ARMY 


OF 


NORTHERN  VIRGINIA 


MEMORIAL  VOLUME. 


COMPILED    BY 


REV.  J.  WILLIAM  JONES,  D.  D. 

\ ' 

Secretary  Soutltfni  Historical  Society, 


AT   THE    REQUEST   OF    THE    VIRGINIA    DIVISION    OF   THE    ARMY 
OF   NORTHERN    VIRGINIA    ASSOCIATION. 


J.  W.  RANDOLPH  &  ENGLISH, 
1302  &  4  MAIN  STREET,  RICHMOND. 

1880. 


Copyrighted,  1879,  by  J.  WILLIAM  JONES. 


GEO.  W.  GARY,  PRINTER, 
RICHMOND,  VA. 


TO    OUR     FALLEN    COMRADES 

OF    THE 

ARMY    OF    NORTHERN    VIRGINIA, 

WHOSE    MEMORY    WE    ENSHRINE    IN    OUR    HEARTS, 
AND    WHOSE    HEROIC    DEEDS    WE    COMMIT    TO    HISTORY, 

THIS    BOOK 

IS    AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 

BY    ONE    WHO    COUNTS     IT    A    PROUD    PRIVILEGE    TO 

HAVE    AN    HUMBLE    PLACE    ON    THE    ROLL 

TO    WHICH    THEY    SO    NOBLY 

RESPONDED. 


M188332 


PREFACE. 


If  any  apology  were  needed  for  this  volume,  it  could  be  found 
in  the  frequently  expressed  desire  of  comrades  in  different  sec 
tions  of  the  country  to  possess  in  permanent  form  the  matter 
herein  contained,  and  in  the  unanimous  and  hearty  vote  by  which, 
at  its  annual  reunion  in  October,  1878,  the  Virginia  Division, 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  Association,  requested  me  to  pre 
pare  it. 

The  addresses  will  be  found  very  important  contributions  to 
the  material  for  a  future  history  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  Roster  and  Statement  of  Relative 
Numbers  will  be  found  of  interest  and  value. 

The  volume  has  been  delayed  by  circumstances  over  which  I 
had  no  control,  but  I  feel  sure  that  subscribers  will  consider  the 
delay  amply  atoned  for  in  its  enabling  me  to  add  to  the  matter 
originally  promised  General  Fitz.  Lee's  address  on  Chancellors- 
ville. 

The  book  is  sent  forth  in  the  full  confidence  that  it  will  prove 
an  acceptable  offering  to  those  who  prize  the  honor  of  belonging 
to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  to  our  brothers  of  the  other 
armies  of  the  Confederacy,  to  friends  of  our  cause  everywhere, 
and  even  to  brave  men  who  fought  against  us  but  are  willing  to 

o  o  o 

admit  that  they  had  "foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

J.  W.  J. 
Richmond,  Virginia,  December  ist, 


CONTENTS. 


I'AGE 

LEE  MEMORIAL  MEETING,  NOVEMBER  3d,  1870 9 

Call  and  Organization 0-10 

Remarks  of  General  Early 10 

Address  of  President  Davis 14 

Memorial  Resolutions 18 

Address  of  Colonel  C.  S.  Venable 19 

Address  of  General  John  S.  Preston 21 

Address  of  General  John  B.  Gordon 22 

Address  of  Colonel  Charles  Marshall 27 

Address  of  General  Henry  A.  Wise 30 

Address  of  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston 32 

Address  of  Colonel  Robert  E.  Withers 35 

List  of  Officers  Elected 37 

ARMY  MEETING,  NOVEMBER  4th,  1870 38 

Remarks  of  General  Early 38 

Committees  and  Permanent  Organization 42-3 

Remarks  of  General  B.  T.  Johnson 44 

Remarks  of  General  Early 4G 

Officers  Elected is 

THIRD  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  VIRGINIA  DIVISION  OF  THE  ARMY  OF 

NORTHERN  VIRGINIA  ASSOCIATION 49 

Address  of  Colonel  C.  S.  Venable  on  Campaign  from  the  Wilderness 
to  Cold  Harbor 49 

FOURTH  ANNUAL  REUNION 69 

Address  of  Colonel  Charles  Marshall  on  the  Strategic  Value  of  Rich 
mond G9 

The  Banquet 89 

FIFTH  ANNUAL  REUNION 90 

Address  of  Major  John  W.  Daniel  on  Gettysburg 90 

The  Banquet 12G 

SIXTH  ANNUAL  REUNION.. 127 

Address  of  Captain  W.  Gordon  McCabe  on  the  Defence  of  Peters 
burg ]27 

The  Banquet 175 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  REUNION 176 

Address  of  Private  Leigh  Robinson  on  uThe  Wilderness" 176 

The  Banquet 260 

EIGHTH  ANNUAL  REUNION 261 

Address  of  Colonel  William  Allan  on  Jackson's  Valley  Campaign...  261 

The  Banquet 290 

Speech  of  Hon.  A.  M.  Kcilcy  on  "The  Model  Infantryman" 290 

NINTH  ANNUAL  REUNION 293 

Address  of  General  Fitzhugh  Lee  on  Chancellorsville 293 

The  Banquet 333 

ROSTEK  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN   VIRGINIA 334 

Seven  Days'  Battles 334 

June  1st,  1863 338 

RELATIVE  NUMBERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA  AND 

THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 343 

At  Seven  Days'  Battles 343 

At  Second  Manassas 3-14 

At  Sharpsburg  or  "  Antietam  " 344 

At  Fredericksburg 345 

At  Chancellorsville 345 

At  Gettysburg 346 

In  Campaign  of  1864 ...  346 

Just  Before  the  Fall  of  Petersburg 347 

At  Appomattox  Courthouse 347 


LEE  MEMORIAL  MEETING. 


On  the   25th   clay  of  October,  1870,  the   following  address  ap 
peared  in  the  public  prints: 

To  tlic  Surviving  Officers  and  Soldiers  of  tJic  Anny  of  XortJicru 


Comrades — The  sad  tidings  of  the  death  of  our  Great  Com 
mander  came  at  a  time  when,  by  the  interruption  of  all  the  ordi 
nary  modes  of  traveling,  very  many  of  us  were  debarred  the 
privilege  of  participating  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  attending  the 
burial  of  him  we  loved  so  well,  or,  by  concerted  action,  of  giving 
expression  to  our  feelings  on  the  occasion.  While  the  unburied 
remains  of  the  illustrious  hero  were  yet  under  the  affectionate 
care  of  friends  who  were  bowed  down  with  a  sorrow  unutterable, 
the  hoarse  cry  of  "treason"  was  croaked  from  certain  quarters, 
for  the  vile  but  abortive  purpose  of  casting  a  stigma  upon  his 
pure  and  exalted  character.  His  fame  belongs  to  the  world,  and 
to  history,  and  is  beyond  the  reach  of  malignity;  but  a  sacred 
duty  devolves  upon  those  whom,  in  defence  of  a  cause  he  be 
lieved  to  be  just  and  to  which  he  remained  true  to  the  latest 
moment  of  his  life,  he  led  so  often  to  battle,  and  for  whom  he 
ever  cherished  the  most  affectionate  regard.  We  owe  it  to  our 
fallen  comrades,  to  ourselves  and  to  posterity,  by  some  suitable 
and  lasting  memorial,  to  manifest  to  the  world,  for  all  time  to 
come,  that  we  were  not  unworthy  to  be  led  by  our  immortal 
CIHKF,  and  that  we  are  not  now  ashamed  of  the  principles  for 
which  Lee  fought  and  Jackson  died. 

Already  steps  have  been  taken  by  some  Confederate  officers 
and  soldiers,  assembled  at  Lexington,  the  place  of  General  Lee's 
death  and  burial,  to  inaugurate  a  memorial  association;  and  being, 
as  I  believe,  the  senior  in  rank  of  all  officers  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  now  living  in  the  State,  I  respectfully  suggest 
and  invite  a  conference  at  Richmond,  on  Thursday,  the  3d  day 
of  November  next,  of  all  the  survivors  of  that  army,  whether 
officers  or  privates,  and  in  whatever  State  they  may  live,  who  can 
conveniently  attend,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  concert  of 
action  in  regard  to  the  proceeding  contemplated.  I  would  also 
invite  to  that  conference  the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of 


IO  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

all  the  other  Confederate  armies,  as  well  as  the  officers,  sailors 
and  marines  of  the  Confederate  navy. 

This  call  would  have  been  made  sooner  but  for  my  absence  up 
to  this  time   in  a  county  where  there  are  no   railroads   or  tele 
graphs,  and  where  I  was  detained  by  imperative  duties. 
Your  friend  and  late  fellow  soldier, 

J.  A.  EARLY. 
LYNCHBURG,  VA.,  October  24,  1870. 

Pursuant  to  this  call,  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Confede 
rate  States  met  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  their  great  chief 
tain,  General  ROBERT  EDWARD  LEE,  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  on  Thursday  evening,  the  3d 
day  of  November,  A.  D.  1870. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Brigadier-General  Bradley 
T.  Johnson,  on  whose  motion  Lieutenant-General  Jubal  A.  Early 
Avas  appointed  temporary  chairman,  and  Captain  George  Walker, 
of  Westmoreland,  Captain  Campbell  Lawson,  of  Richmond,  and 
Sergeant  George  L.  Christian,  of  Richmond,  temporary  secre 
taries. 

General  Early,  on  taking  the  Chair,  delivered  an  appropriate 
address. 

ADDRESS  OF  GENERAL  EARLY. 

Friends  and  Comrades — When  the  information  of  the  death  of 
our  illustrious  Commander  was  flashed  over  the  telegraphic  wires 
to  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  good  men  everywhere  mourned 
the  loss  of  him  who,  in  life,  was  the  noblest  exemplar  of  his 
times  of  all  that  is  good,  and  true,  and  great  in  human  nature; 
and  a  cry  of  anguish  was  wrung  from  the  hearts  of  all  true  Con 
federate  soldiers,  which  was  equalled  only  by  that  which  came 
up  from  the  same  hearts  when  the  fact  was  realized  that  the 
sword  of  Robert  E.  Lee  was  sheathed  forever,  and  that  the 
banner  to  which  his  deeds  had  given  such  lustre  was  furled  amid 
gloom  and  disaster.  After  the  first  burst  of  grief  had  subsided, 
the  inquiry  arose  in  the  breasts  of  all,  What  can  we  do  to  mani 
fest  our  esteem  and  veneration  for  him  we  loved  so  well?  It  was 
but  necessary  that  the  suggestion  should  be  made  to  elicit  an 
expression  of  the  general  sentiment.  I  thought  that  I  could 
take  the  liberty  of  making  that  suggestion  to  my  old  comrades, 
and  I  therefore  made  the  call  under  which  you  are  here  assembled. 
Although  I  made  that  call  as  the  former  senior  in  rank  of  all  the 
officers  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  now  living  in  the  State, 
I  desire  to  say  to  you  that  at  the  tomb  of  General  Lee  all  dis 
tinctions  of  rank  cease.  The  private  soldier  who,  in  tattered 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    EARLY.  I  I 

uniform  and  with  sore  and  bleeding  feet,  followed  the  banner 
upheld  by  Lee  and  Jackson,  and  did  not  desert  his  post  or  skulk 
in  the  hour  of  danger,  but  did  his  duty  faithfully  to  the  end  of 
the  war,  and  is  now  doing  his  duty  by  remaining  true  to  the 
principles  for  which  he  fought,  is  the  peer  of  the  most  renowned 
in  fame  or  exalted  in  rank  among  the  survivors.  He  has  an 
equal  share  in  the  proud  heritage  left  us  in  the  memory  of  the 
glorious  deeds  and  exalted  virtues  of  our  great  Chieftain.  All 
such  I  greet  and  welcome  here,  as  I  do  those  of  every  rank, 
claiming  them  all  as  my  friends,  comrades  and  brothers. 

My  friends,  if  it  is  expected  that  I  shall  on  this  occasion  de 
liver  a  eulogy  on  General  Lee,  you  will  be  disappointed.  I  have 
-not  the  language  with  which  to  give  expression  to  my  estimate 
of  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  his  character.  I  will  say,  how 
ever,  that  as  extended  as  is  his  fame,  the  world  at  large  has  not 
fully  appreciated  the  transcendant  abilities  of  General  Lee,  nor 
realized  the  perfection  of  his  character.  No  one  who  has  not 
witnessed  the  affectionate  kindness  and  gentleness,  and  often  play 
fulness,  of  his  manners  in  private,  his  great  self-control  and  dig 
nity  in  dealing  with  important  public  affairs,  the  exhibition  of 
his  high  and  unyielding  sense  of  duty  on  all  occasions,  and  the 
majestic  grandeur  of  his  action  and  appearance  in  the  shock  of 
battle,  can  form  more  than  an  approximate  estimate  of  his  real 
character. 

Monuments  of  marble  or  bronze  can  add  nothing  to  the  fame 

o 

of  General  Lee,  and  to  perpetuate  it  it  is  not  necessary  that 
such  should  be  erected.  But  the  student  of  history  in  future 
ages  who  shall  read  of  the  deeds  and  virtues  of  our  immortal 
hero,  will  be  lost  in  amazement  at  the  fact  that  such  a  man  went 
down  to  his  grave  a  disfranchised  citizen  by  the  edict  of  his 
cotemporaries — which  infamous  edict,  by  the  fiat  of  an  inexorable 
despotism,  has  been  forced  to  be  recorded  on  the  statute  book  of 
his  native  State.  We,  my  comrades,  owe  it  to  our  own  characters, 
at  least,  to  vindicate  our  manhood  and  purge  ourselves  of  the 
foul  stain,  by  erecting  an  enduring  monument  to  him,  that  will 
be  a  standing  protest,  for  all  time  to  come,  against  the  righteous 
ness  of  the  judgment  pronounced  against  him,  without  arraign 
ment,  without  trial,  without  evidence,  and  against  truth  and  jus 
tice.  The  exact  locality  of  that  monument  I  do  not  now  propose 
to  suggest.  When  we  are  in  a  condition  to  erect  it,  it  will,  in 
my  opinion,  be  the  proper  time  to  settle  definitely  its  locality; 
and  I  merely  say  now  that  it  should  be  where  it  will  be  accessi 
ble  to  all  his  boys  and  their  descendants. 

Something  has  been  suggested  with  regard  to  the  resting  place 
of  all  that  was  mortal  of  our  beloved  commander.     This  is  a 


12  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

question,  at  this  time,  solely  for  the  determination  of  the  imme 
diate  family  of  General  Lee.  Let  us  respect  the  feelings  of 
those  who  have  sustained  so  terrible  a  bereavement.  I  am  sure 
that  the  soldiers  who  followed  him  through  such  dreadful  trials 
will  have  regard  for  the  wishes  of  that  noble  Virginia  matron, 
who,  being  allied  to  Washington,  has  been  through  life  the 
cherished  bosom  companion  of  Lee. 

Comrades,  I  am  more  than  gratified  at  the  fact  that  the  great 
statesman  and  pure  patriot  who  presided  over  the  destinies  of  the 
Confederate  States — who  selected  General  Lee  to  lead  her  armies 
and  gave  him  his  entire  confidence  throughout  all  his  glorious 
career — is  here  to  mingle  his  grief  with  ours,  and  to  join  in  pay 
ing  tribute  to  the  memory  of  him  we  mourn. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Minnigerode,  D.  D.,  Rector  of  Saint  Paul's 
Church,  Richmond,  then  made  a  fervent  and  appropriate  prayer. 

General  Bradley  T.  Johnson  moved  the  appointment  of  Com 
mittees  on  Permanent  Organization  and  Resolutions;  whereupon 
the  Chair  appointed  the  following: 

OX    PERMANENT    ORGANIZATION. 

General  WILLIAM  TERRY,  Chairman Bedford. 

Major  ROBERT  STILES Richmond. 

Sergeant  J.  VANLEW  MCCREERY Richmond. 

Corporal  WILLIAM  C.  KEAN,  Jr Louisa. 

Lieutenant  JOHN  E.  ROLLER Rockingham. 

Lieutenant  HENRY  C.  CARTER Richmond. 

General  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT Richmond. 

General  JOHN  R.  COOKE King  William. 

General  HARRY  HETH Baltimore. 

Colonel  THOMAS  H.  CARTER King  William. 

Colonel  H.  P.  JONES Hanover. 

Private  W.  H.  EFFINGER Rockingham. 

Captain  JAMES  WILLIAM  FOSTER Leesburg. 

Colonel  THOMAS  L.  PRESTON Albemarle. 

General  WILLIAM  H.  PAYNE... Fauquier. 

Colonel  ROBERT  S.  PRESTON.... Montgomery. 

Captain  W.  (J,  NICHOLAS Maryland. 

Colonel  WILLIAM  ALLAN Lexington. 

Private  ABRAM  WARWICK Richmond. 

Major  A.  R.  VENABLE Prince  Ed\vard. 

Lieutenant  SAMUEL  WILSON Surry. 

Major  ROBERT  VV.  HUNTER Winchester. 

Lieutenant  JAMES  POLLARD King  William. 

Colonel  WILLIAM  NELSON Hanover. 

Captain  R.  I).  MINOR Richmond. 

General  JAMES  H.  LANE North  Carolina. 

Colonel  W.  W.  GORDON New  Kent. 

Hon.  WILLIAM  WELSH Kent  county,  Md. 

Captain  J.  L.  CLARKE Baltimore. 


OX    PERMANENT    ORGANIZATION.  13 

ON    RESOLUTIONS. 

Colonel  CHARLES  S.  VENABLE.  Chairman Albemarle. 

Hon.  R.  T.  BANKS Baltimore. 

Major  JOHN  W.  DANIEL Lynchburg. 

Lieutenant  RICHARD  H.  CHRISTIAN Richmond. 

Major  WILLIAM  H.  CASKIE Richmond. 

General  BEX.  HUGKR Fanqnier. 

"  General  WILLIAM  MAIIONE Petersburg. 

General  L.  L.  LOMAX Fanquier. 

GEORGE  H.  PAGELS,  Esq Baltimore. 

Colonel  EDMUND  PENDLETON Botetourt. 

Private  JOHN  A.  ELDER Richmond. 

Commodore  MATTHEW  F.  MAUKY Lexington. 

General  GEORGE  H.  STEUART Baltimore. 

General  C.  W.  FIELD Virginia. 

General  W.  S.  WALKER Georgia. 

Sergeant  LEROY  8.  EDWARDS Richmond. 

Lieutenant,  S.  V.  SOUTHALL ,.  Albemarle. 

Captain  J.  M.  HUDGINS Caroline. 

Colonel  WILLIAM  E.  CAMERON Petersburg. 

Colonel  WILLIAM  WATTS Koanoke. 

General  HARRY  HETH Baltimore. 

General  WILLIAM  B.  TALIAFERRO Gloucester. 

General  SAMUEL  JONES Amelia. 

Private  .JOHN  B.  MORDECAI Hcnrieo. 

Captain  J.  McIlENRY  HOWARD Baltimore. 

Captain  E.  GRISWOLD Baltimore. 

Lieutenant  II.  C.  JONES Alleghany  Co.,  Mtl. 

After  an  absence  of  a  few  minutes  the  Committee  on  Perma 
nent  Organization,  through  their  chairman,  General  Terry,  made 
the  following  report,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  amidst 
great  applause: 

For  President — Hon.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 
For  I  Ice-Presidents — 
Major-General  JOHN  B.  GORDON.        Major-General  FITZ.  LEE. 


Major-General  EDWARD  JOHNSON. 
Major-General  1.  R.  TRIMBLE. 
Major-General  W.  B.  TALIAFERRO. 


Brig.-General  WM.  N".  PENDLETON.    Major  WILLIAM  X.  BERKELEY. 


Major-General  WILLIAM  SMITH.          Coloiu 


HEXRY  PEYTON. 
J.  L.  FRENCH. 
ROBERT  E.  WITHERS. 


WILLIAM  WILLIS. 

WM.  PRESTON  JOHNSTON, 


Colone 

Colonel  CHARLES  MARSHALL.  Captain  MANN  PAGE. 

Colonel  WALTER  IT.  TAYLOR.  Corporal  WILLIAM  c.  KEAN. 

Colonel  W.  K.  PERRIN.  Private  ROBERT  MARTIN. 

Colonel  PEYTON  X.  WISE.  Private  G.  HOUGH. 

General  M.  RANSON.  Private  G.  ELDER. 

Captain  ROBERT  PEGRAM.  Sergeant  W.  WIRT  ROBINSON. 

General  L.  L.  LOMAX. 

For  Secretaries — 

Captain  E.  S.  GREGORY.  Private  ABNER  ANDERSON. 

Sergeant  GEORGE  L.  CHRISTIAN.        Captain  THOMAS  I).  HOUSTON. 
Captain  C.  G.  LAWSON.  Captain  GEORGE  WALKER. 

Sergeant  JAMES  I*.  COWARDIN.  Major  WILLIAM  B.  MYERS. 

Captain  W.  A.  ANDERSON. 


14  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Mr.  Davis'  advance  to  the  chair  was  hailed  with  a  burst  of 
irrepressible  enthusiasm — he  was  cheered  to  the  echo — and  his 
address  enchained  every  eye  and  thrilled  every  heart  in  the 
audience  from  the  outset  to  the  end. 

ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    DAVIS. 

Soldiers  and  Sailors  of  the  Confederacy,  Countrymen  and 
Friends — Assembled  on  this  sad  occasion,  with  hearts  oppressed 
with  the  grief  that  follows  the  loss  of  him  who  was  our  leader 
on  many  a  bloody  battlefield,  there  is  a  melancholy  pleasure  in 
the  spectacle  which  is  presented.  Hitherto  men  have  been  hon 
ored  when  successful;  but  here  is  the  case  of  one  who  amid 
disaster  went  down  to  his  grave,  and  those  who  were  his  com 
panions  in  misfortune  have  assembled  to  honor  his  memory.  It 
is  as  much  an  honor  to  you  who  give  as  to  him  who  receives,  for 
above  the  vulgar  test  of  merit  you  show  yourselves  competent 
to  discriminate  between  him  who  enjoys  and  him  who  deserves 
success. 

Robert  E.  Lee  was  my  associate  and  friend  in  the  Military 
Academy,  and  we  were  friends  until  the  hour  of  his  death.  We 
were  associates  and  friends  when  he  was  a  soldier  and  I  a  con 
gressman,  and  associates  and  friends  when  he  led  the  armies  of 
the  Confederacy  and  I  held  civil  office;  and  therefore  I  may  claim 
to  speak  as  one  who  knew  him.  In  the  many  sad  scenes  and 
perilous  circumstances  through  which  we  passed  together,  our 
conferences  were  frequent  and  full ;  yet  never  was  there  an  occa 
sion  on  which  there  was  not  entire  harmony  of  purpose  and 
accordance  as  to  means.  If  ever  there  was  difference  of  opinion, 
it  was  dissipated  by  discussion,  and  harmony  was  the  result.  I 
repeat,  we  never  disagreed,  and  I  may  add  that  I  never  saw  in 
him  the  slightest  tendency  to  self-seeking.  It  was  not  his  to 
make  a  record;  it  was  not  his  to  shift  blame  to  other  shoulders; 
but  it  was  his,  with  an  eye  fixed  upon  the  welfare  of  his  country, 
never  faltering,  to  follow  the  line  of  duty  to  the  end.  His  was 
the  heart  that  braved  every  difficulty;  his  was  the  mind  that 
wrought  victory  out  of  defeat. 

He  has  been  charged  with  "want  of  dash."  I  wish  to  say 
that  I  never  knew  Lee  to  decline  to  attempt  anything  man  should 
dare.  An  attempt  has  also  been  made  to  throw  a  cloud  upon 
his  character  because  he  left  the  army  of  the  United  States  to 
join  in  the  struggle  for  the  liberty  of  his  State.  Without  enter 
ing  into  politics,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  say  one  word  in  reference 
to  this  charge.  Virginian  born,  descended  from  a  family  illus 
trious  in  the  Colonial  history  of  Virginia,  more  illustrious  still. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT     DAVIS.  15 

in  her  struggle  for  independence,  and  most  illustrious  in  her 
recent  effort  to  maintain  the  great  principles  declared  in  I//6; 
given  by  Virginia  to  the  service  of  the  United  States,  he  repre 
sented  her  in  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  He  was  not 
educated  by  the  Federal  Government,  but  by  Virginia;  for  she 
paid  her  full  share  for  the  support  of  that  institution,  and  was 
entitled  to  its  benefits  as  well  as  to  demand  in  return  the  services 
of  her  sons.  Entering  the  army  of  the  United  States,  he  repre 
sented  Virginia  there  also,  and  nobly  performed  his  duty  for  the 
Union  of  which  Virginia  was  a  member,  whether  we  look  to  his 
peaceful  services  as  an  engineer,  or  to  his  more  notable  deeds 
upon  foreign  fields  of  battle.  He  came  from  Mexico  crowned 
with  honors,  covered  by  brevets,  and  recognized,  young  as  he 
was,  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  his  country's  soldiers.  And  to  prove 
that  he  was  estimated  then  as  such,  not  only  by  his  associates, 
but  by  foreigners  also,  I  may  mention  that  when  he  was  a  Cap 
tain  of  Engineers,  stationed  in  Baltimore,  the  Cuban  Junta  in 
New  York  invited  him  to  be  their  leader  in  the  revolutionary 
effort  in  that  island.  They  were  anxious  to  secure  his  services, 
and  offered  him  every  temptation  that  ambition  could  desire  and 
pecuniar}'  emoluments  far  beyond  any  which  he  could  hope 
otherwise  to  acquire.  He  thought  the  matter  over,  and  came  to 
Washington  to  consult  me  as  to  what  he  should  do.  After  a 
brief  discussion  of  the  complex  character  of  the  military  problem 
which  was  presented,  he  turned  from  the  consideration  of  that 
view  of  the  question,  by  stating  that  the  point  on  which  he 
wished  particularly  to  consult  me,  was  as  to  the  propriety  of 
entertaining  the  proposition  which  had  been  made  to  him.  He 
had  been  educated  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  felt  it 
wrong  to  accept  place  in  the  army  of  a  foreign  power,  while  he 
held  the  commission  which  must  have  caused  the  offer  to  be 
made.  Such  was  the  extreme  delicacy,  such  the  nice  sense  of 
honor,  of  the  gallant  gentleman  we  deplore.  But  when  Virginia 
—the  State  to  which  he  owed  his  first  and  last  allegiance — with 
drew  from  the  Union  and  thus  terminated  her  relations  to  it,  the 
same  nice  sense  of  honor  and  duty  which  had  guided  him  on  a 
former  occasion,  had  a  different  application,  and  led  him  to  draw 
his  sword  and,  throwing  it  in  the  scale,  to  share  her  fortune  for 
good  or  for  evil. 

When  Virginia  joined  the  Confederacy,  and  the  scat  of  Gov 
ernment  was  moved  to  Richmond,  Lee  was  the  highest  officer  in 
the  little  army  of  Virginia,  and  promptly  co-operated  in  all  the 
movements  of  the  Confederate  Government  for  the  defence  of 
the  common  country.  When  he  was  sent  to  Western  Virginia, 
he  made  no  inquiry  as  to  his  rank,  but  continued  to  serve  under 


1 6  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  impression  that  he  was  still  an  officer  of  Virginia;  and  though 
he  had,  in  point  of  fact,  then  been  appointed  General  by  the  Con 
federate  Government,  he  was  so  careless  of  himself  as  never  to 
have  learned  the  fact,  and  only  made  inquiry  when,  ordered  to 
another  State,  he  deemed  it  necessary  to  know  what  would  be 
his  relative  position  towards  other  officers  with  whom  he  might 
be  brought  in  contact. 

You  all  remember  the  disastrous  character  of  that  campaign 
in  Western  Virginia  to  which  I  have  referred.  He  came  back 
carrying  the  heavy  weight  of  defeat  and  unappreciated  by  the 
people  whom  he  served;  for  they  could  not  know  that  if  his 
plans  and  orders  had  been  carried  out,  the  result  would  have 
been  victory  rather  than  retreat.  You  did  not  know  it,  for  I 
would  not  have  known  had  he  not  reported  it,  with  the  request, 
however,  in  consideration  for  others,  that  it  should  not  be  made 
public.  The  clamor  which  then  arose  followed  him  when  he 
went  to  South  Carolina;  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  write  a 
letter  to  the  Governor  of  that  State,  telling  him  what  manner  of 
man  Lee  was.  Yet,  through  all  this,  with  a  magnanimity  rarely 
equalled,  he  stood  in  silence,  without  defending  himself  or  allow 
ing  others  to  defend  him,  for  he  was  unwilling  to  injure  any  one 
who  was  striking  blows  for  the  Confederacy. 

[Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of  the  straits  to  which  the  Confederacy 
was  reduced,  and  of  the  danger  to  which  her  capital  was  ex 
posed  just  after  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines,  and  told  how  General  Lee 
conceived  and  executed  the  desperate  plan  to  turn  the  enemy's 
flank  and  rear,  and  how,  after  seven  days'  bloody  battle,  the  pro 
tection  of  Richmond  was  secured,  and  the  enemy,  driven  far 
from  the  city,  cowered  on  the  banks  of  the  James  river,  under 
the  cover  of  his  gunboats.  The  speaker  referred  also  to  the  cir 
cumstances  attending  General  Lee's  crossing  the  Potomac  and 
the  march  into  Pennsylvania,  and  to  the  censures  to  which  that 
movement  had  been  subjected  by  those  who  did  not  comprehend 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  undertaken.  He  said  that  if  neces 
sary  he  had  always  been  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
it,  and  had  at  the  time  written  a  vindication  of  the  enterprise. 
Whatever"  were  the  sacrifices  of  that  campaign,  it  achieved  the 
result  for  which  it  wras  intended.  The  enemy  had  long  been 
concentrating  his  forces,  and  it  was  evident  that  if  they  con 
tinued  their  steady  progress,  the  Confederacy  would  be  over 
whelmed.  Our  only  hope  was  to  drive  him  to  the  defence  of  his 
own  capital,  that  we,  thus  relieved,  might  be  enabled  in  the  mean 
time  to  reinforce  our  shattered  army.  How  well  General  Lee 
carried  out  that  dangerous  experiment  need  not  be  told.  Rich 
mond  was  relieved,  the  Confederacy  was  relieved,  and  time  was 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    DAVIS.  I/ 

obtained,  if  other  things  had  favored,  to  reinforce  the  army.] 
Mr.  Davis  then  proceeded : 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  review  the  military  career  of  our  deceased 
Chieftain.  Of  the  man,  how  shall  I  speak?  He  was  my  friend, 
and  in  that  word  is  included  all  that  I  could  say  of  any  man. 
His  moral  qualities  rose  to  the  height  of  his  genius.  Self-deny 
ing — always  intent  upon  the  one  idea  of  duty — self-controlled  to 
an  extent  that  many  thought  him  cold.  His  feelings  were  really 
warm,  and  his  heart  melted  readily  at  the  sufferings  of  the  widow 
and  the  orphan,  and  his  eye  rested  with  mournful  tenderness 
upon  the  wounded  soldier.  During  the  war  he  was  ever  con 
scious  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  means  at  his  control;  but  it  was 
never  his  to  complain  or  to  utter  a  doubt — it  was  always  his  to 
do.  When  in  the  last  campaign  he  was  beleagured  at  Petersburg, 
and  painfully  aware  of  the  straits  to  which  we  were  reduced,  he 
said:  "With  my  army  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  I  could  carry 
on  this  war  for  twenty  years  longer."  His  army  greatly  dimin 
ished,  his  transportation  deficient,  he  could  only  hope  to  protract 
the  defence  until  the  roads  should  become  firm  enough  to  enable 
him  to  retire.  An  untoward  event  caused  him  to  anticipate  the 
projected  movement,  and  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was 
overwhelmed.  But  in  the  surrender  he  trusted  to  conditions  that 
should,  both  for  policy  and  good  faith,  have  been  fulfilled — he 
expected  his  army  to  be  respected  and  his  paroled  soldiers  to  be 
allowed  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  civil  rights  and  property. 
Whether  these  conditions  have  been  fulfilled,  I  leave  it  to  others 
to  determine. 

Here  he  now  sleeps  in  the  land  he  loved  so  well,  and  that  land 
is  not  Virginia  only,  for  they  do  injustice  to  Lee  who  believe  he 
fought  only  for  Virginia.  He  was  ready  to  go  anywhere,  on  any 
service,  for  the  good  of  his  country,  and  his  heart  icas  as  broad 
as  tJic  fifteen  States  struggling  for  tJic  principles  tliat  our  forcfatlicrs 
fought  for  in  tJic  Revolution  of  i*/~/f>.  He  sleeps  with  the  thous 
ands  who  fought  under  the  same  flag — and  happiest  the}'  who 
first  offered  up  their  lives;  he  sleeps  in  the  soil  to  him  and  to 
them  most  clear.  That  flag  was  furled  when  there  was  none  to 
bear  it.  Around  it  we  are  assembled,  a  remnant  of  the  living,  to 
do  honor  to  his  memory,  and  there  is  an  army  of  skeleton  senti 
nels  to  keep  watch  above  his  grave.  This  good  citizen,  this  gal 
lant  soldier,  this  great  general,  this  true  patriot,  had  yet  a  higher 
praise  than  this  or  these — he  was  a  true  Christian.  The  Chris 
tianity  which  ennobled  his  life  gives  to  us  the  consolatory  belief 
that  he  is  happy  beyond  the  grave. 

But  while  we  mourn  the  loss  of  the  great  and  the  true,  drop 
we  also  tears  of  sympathy  with  her  who  was  an  helpmeet  to  him — 


I  8  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  noble  woman  who,  while  her  husband  was  in  the  field  leading 
the  army  of  the  Confederacy,  though  an  invalid  herself,  passed 
the  time  in  knitting  socks  for  the- marching  soldiers!  A  woman 
fit  to  be  the  mother  of  heroes — and  heroes  are  descended  from 
her.  Mourning  with  her,  we  can  only  offer  the  consolations  of 
the  Christian.  Our  loss  is  not  his,  but  he  now  enjoys  the  re 
wards  of  a  life  well  spent  and  a  never  wavering  trust  in  a  risen 
Saviour.  This  day  we  unite  our  words  of  sorrow  with  those  of 
the  good  and  great  throughout  Christendom,  for  his  fame  is  gone 
over  the  water.  His  deeds  will  be  remembered  by  the  liberty- 
loving  patriot  of  every  age  and  of  every  clime;  when  the  monu 
ment  we  build  shalLhave  crumbled  into  dust,  his  virtues  will  still 
live,  a  high  model  for  the  imitation  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

MEMORIAL    RESOLUTIONS. 

Colonel  C.  S.  Venable  then  presented  the  following  report  of 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions: 

Whereas,  it  is  a  high  and  holy  duty,  as  well  as  a  noble  privi 
lege,  to  perpetuate  the  honors  of  those  who  have  displayed  emi 
nent  virtues  and  performed  great  achievements,  that  they  may 
serve  as  incentives  and  examples  to  the  latest  generation  of  their 
countrymen,  and  attest  the  reverential  admiration  and  affectionate 
regard  of  their  compatriots;  and  whereas,  this  duty  and  privilege 
devolves  on  all  who  love  and  admire  General  Robert  E.  Lee 
throughout  this  country  and  the  world,  and  in  an  especial  manner 
upon  those  who  followed  him  in  the  field,  or  who  fought  in  the 
same  cause,  who  shared  in  his  glories,  partook  of  his  trials,  and 
were  united  with  him  in  the  same  sorrows  and  adversity,  who 
were  devoted  to  him  in  war  by  the  baptism  of  fire  and  blood, 
and  bound  to  him  in  peace  by  the  still  higher  homage  due  to  the 
rare  and  grand  exhibition  of  a  character  pure  and  lofty  and 
gentle  and  true,  under  all  changes  of  fortune,  and  serene  amid 
the  greatest  disasters:  therefore,  be  it 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  form  an  association  to  erect  a  monument 
at  Richmond  to  the  memory  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  as  an  enduring 
testimonial  of  our  love  and  respect  and  devotion  to  his  fame. 

2.  Resolved,  That  while  donations  will  be  gladly  received  from 
all  who  recognize  in  the  excellences  of  General  Lee's  character 
an  honor  and  an  encouragement  to  our  common  humanity  and 
an  abiding  hope  that  others  in  coming  generations  maybe  found 
to  imitate  his  virtues,  it  is  desirable  that  every  Confederate  soldier 
and  sailor  should  make  some  contribution,  however  small,  to  the 
proposed  monument. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    VEXABLE.  19 

j.  Resolved,  That  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  requisite 
efficiency  and  dispatch  in  the  erection  of  the  monument,  an  ex 
ecutive  committee  of  seven,  with  a  president,  secretary,  treasurer, 
auditor,  &c.,  be  appointed  to  invite  and  collect  subscriptions,  to 
procure  designs  for  said  monument,  to  select  the  best,  to  provide 
for  the  organization  of  central  executive  committees  in  other 
States,  which  may  serve  as  mediums  of  communication  between 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Association  and  the  local  asso 
ciations  of  those  States,  and  to  do  whatever  else  is  required  in 
the  premises. 

./.  Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  invite  the  ladies  of  the  Hol 
lywood  Association  to  lend  us  their  assistance  and  co-operation 
in  the  collection  of  subscriptions. 

5.  Resolved,  That   we   cordially  approve  of  the   local    monu 
ments  to  our  beloved  Chieftain,  proposed  by  the  Associations  at 
Atlanta,  and   at    Lexington,  his   home,  whose    people    were   so 
closely  united  with  him  in  the  last  sad  years  of  his  life. 

6.  Resolved,  That  while  we  cordially  thank  the  Governor  and 
Legislature    of  Virginia    for   the    steps   they   have   taken    to    do 
honor  to  the   memory  of  General    Lee,  yet,  in   deference  to  the 
wishes  of  his  loved  and  venerated  widow,  with  whom  we  mourn, 
we  will  not  discuss  the  question  of  the  most  fitting  resting  place 
for  his  ever  glorious  remains,  but  will  content  ourselves  with  ex 
pressing  the  earnest  desire  and  hope  that  at  some  future  proper 
time  they  will  be  committed  to  the  charge  of  this  Association. 

Colonel  Venable  supported  the  resolutions  with  the  following 
remarks : 

ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    VEXAI5LE. 

j\fy  Countrymen  and  Felloiv  Soldiers — In  presenting  these  reso 
lutions  from  the  Committee,  I  will  make  no  studied  effort  to  add 
to  the  eulogies  of  General  Lee  which  have  been  pronounced 
throughout  the  world.  I  will  not  speak  of  his  fame  and  military 
genius.  \Ve  can  leave  these  in  perfect  confidence  to  the  calm 
verdict  of  history.  Be  it  mine  to  relate  a  single  incident  to  show 
what  his  great  soul  suffered  for  us  amid  those  last  sad  hours  of 
the  life  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  at  Appomattox  Court 
house.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that  fatal  day,  Gen 
eral  Lee  rode  forward,  still  hoping  that  we  might  break  through 
the  countless  hordes  of  the  enemy  which  hemmed  us  in.  Halt 
ing  a  short  distance  in  rear  of  our  vanguard,  he  sent  me  on  to 
General  Gordon  to  ask  him  if  he  could  break  through  the  ene 
my.  I  found  General  Gordon  and  General  Fitz.  Lee  on  their 
front  line  in  the  dim  light  of  the  morning,  arranging  an  attack. 


2O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Gordon's  reply  to  the  message  (I  give  the  expressive  phrase  of 
the  gallant  Georgian) was  this:  "Tell  General  Lee  I  have  fought 
my  corps  to  a  frazzle,  and  I  fear  I  can  do  nothing  unless  I  am 
heavily  supported  by  Longstreet's  corps."  When  I  bore  this 
message  back  to  General  Lee,  he  said:  "Then  there  is  nothing 
left  me  but  to  go  and  see  General  Grant,*  and  I  would  rather 
die  a  thousand  deaths."  Convulsed  with  passionate  grief,  many 
were  the  wild  wrords  which  we  spoke,  as  we  stood  around  him. 
Said  one,  "Oh!  General,  what  will  history  say  of  the  surrender 
of  the  army  in  the  field?"  He  replied,  "Yes,  I  know  they  will 
say  hard  things  of  us;  they  will  not  understand  how  we  were 
overwhelmed  by  numbers;  but  that  is  not  the  question,  Colonel; 
the  question  is,  is  it  right  to  surrender  this  army?  if  it  is  right, 
then  /  will  take  tf//the  responsibility."  Fellow  soldiers,  though  he 
alone  was  calm,  in  that  hour  of  humiliation  the  soul  of  our  great 
Captain  underwent  the  throes  of  death,  for  his  grand  old  army 
surrendered,  and  for  his  people  so  soon  to  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the 
foe;  and  the  sorrows  of  this  first  death  at  Appomattox  Court 
house,  with  the  afflictions  which  fell  upon  the  devoted  South, 
weighed  upon  his  mighty  heart  to  its  breaking,  when  the  wel 
come  messenger  came  from  God  to  translate  him  to  his  home  in 
heaven. 

We  are  met  together  to  begin  the  erection  of  a  monument  to 
liis  memory.  And  where  shall  this  monument  be  reared?  In 
the  words  of  the  resolutions,  we  say,  here  at  Richmond,  which 
was  founded  by  the  companions  of  his  knightly  ancestors;  at 
Richmond,  the  objective  point  of  those  attacks  made  with  all  the 
accumulated  resources  of  modern  warfare,  which  he  repelled  for 
four  long  years;  Richmond,  where  lie  so  many  of  the  brave  sol 
diers  who  went  gaily  to  death  at  his  bidding — some  who  fell  with 
their  last  looks  upon  the  spires  of  her  temples;  others  nursed  in 
their  dying  hours  by  the  tender  hands  of  her  women,  and  others 
still  who  gave  their  souls  to  God  and  their  bodies  to  the  enemy 
at  Gettysburg,  brought  hither  by  the  loving  care  of  the  same 
true  devoted  women.  Yes,  let  his  monument  be  near  them  here 
in  Richmond;  and  when  the  first  flush  of  the  resurrection  morn 
tinges  the  skies,  may  their  unsealed  eyes  behold  the  grand  figure 
of  him  whom  they  loved  so  well. 

The  Chair  then  introduced  General  John  S.  Preston,  of  South 
Carolina. 

'Field's  and  Mahono's  divisions  of  Lonpstreet'.s  corps,  staunch  in  the  midst  of  all  our  dis 
asters,  were  holding  Meade  back  in  our  rear,  and  could  not  be  spared  for  the  attack. 


ADDRESS  OF  GENERAL  PRESTON.  2L 


ADDRESS  OF  GENERAL  PRESTON. 

Mr.  President  and  Comrades  of  tlic  Annies  of  tlic  Confederate 
States — There  was  a  time  when,  with  wicked  and  impatient  infi 
delity,  I  feared  it  was  not  a  kind  providence  which  permitted 
men  with  grey  beards  to  survive  our  war.  But  having  seen 
Robert  Lee  live  as  righteously  as  he  fought  gloriously,  and  that 
we  are  now  spared  to  the  holy  duty  of  honoring  his  memory 
and  perpetuating  his  faith,  I  recant  the  heresy  and  meekly  wait 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  am  grateful  for  that  consideration 
which  calls  me  to  appear  in  this  stately  procession.  Yet  I 
scarcely  dare  to  bring  my  little  blade  of  grass  to  lay  upon  a 
grave  already  glittering  with  tears  and  pearls,  flowing  from  the 
eyes  and  hearts  of  a  mourning  world.  On  no  occasion  of  my 
life  have  I  been  so  utterly  unable  to  tell  the  feelings  of  my  heart, 
or  the  crowding  thoughts  which  come  rushing  on  my  brain.  But, 
comrades,  we  are  not  here  to  find  rhetorical  forms,  modes  and 
shows  of  trrief,  not  even  to  speak  singly,  but  altogether,  as  in 

o  1  o    ,/   "  .  o 

these  complete  resolutions,  with  one  tongue,  one  heart,  in  the 
simplest  words  of  our  language,  to  join  our  grief  and  our  honor. 

As  a  Virginian,  as  a  Confederate,  as  a  man,  as  a  friend,  I  am 
overwhelmed  with  the  emotions  which  emanate  from  all  these 
attributes  of  my  being.  Standing  here  before  the  most  illustrious 
and  the  bravest  living,  I  feel  as  if  I  were  in  the  very  presence  of 
the  greatest  dead  who  has  died  in  my  generation — of  him  to 
whom  my  spirit  bowed  as  to  the  anointed  Champion  of  the 
purest  human  faith  I  have  ever  cherished — of  him,  who,  by  his 
great  deeds,  by  his  pure  life,  by  his  humble  faith  in  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus,  has  justified  to  the  world  and  is  now  pleading  with 
a  God  of  Truth  for  that  cause  which  made  him  the  most  illus 
trious  living  man  and  the  most  mourned  of  all  the  dead  who 
died  in  his  generation.  It  was  the  greatness  of  his  cause,  and 
the  purity  of  his  faith  in  that  cause,  which  made  Robert  Lee 
great,  for  we  who  know  him  best  do  know  that  Robert  Lee  could 
never  have  achieved  greatness  in  an  ignoble  cause,  or  under  an 
impure  faith.  God  gave  him  to  us,  to  sanctify  our  faith,  and  to 
show  us  and  the  world  that,  although  we  might  fail,  His  chosen 
servant  had  made  that  cause  forever  holy. 

We  who  have  been  associated  with  the  man  in  the  gentler 
affections  of  friendship,  or  even  in  the  rage  and  turmoil  of  battle, 
can  scarcely  appreciate  the  perfect  symmetry  and  dazzling  splen 
dor  of  that  character  which  stands  out  the  foremost  of  our  age. 
Those  who  come  after  us,  freed  from  our  personal  love,  and  from 
the  present  glow  of  his  virtues,  will  see  in  all  their  plentitude 


;22  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  god-like  hero,  the  great  Captain,  the  exalted  Christian  gentle 
man,  the  devoted  son,  who  drew  his  sword  in  defence  of  the 
honor,  the  liberties  and  the  sovereignty  of  Virginia,  and  who,  as 
surely  as  if  he  had  been  shot  to  death  on  her  bloodiest  battle 
field,  did  die  for  Virginia,  for  he  had  laid  all  his  love,  all  his  faith, 
all  his  life,  at  her  feet.  Virginians !  can  we  forget  the  mother  for 
whose  honor,  liberty  and  sovereignty  Robert  Lee  has  just  died? 

Lee's  patriotism  was  that  God-given  virtue  which  makes  demi 
gods  of  men,  and  was  as  wide  as  his  country,  from  Maryland  to 
Texas;  but  he  was  a  Virginian,  body  and  soul,  heart  and  spirit. 
He  told  his  commander  so  when  he  sheathed  his  sword  from  the 
service  of  her  enemies ;  he  told  the  wife  of  his  bosom  so  when 
the  Virginia  matron  again  girded  on  his  sword;  and  here,  glow 
ing  like  a  promised  god,  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  sove 
reignty  of  Virginia,  he  told  them  he  drew  his  sword  in  defence 
of  the  honor,  the  liberty  and  the  sovereignty  of  Virginia.  She 
was  his  fortress,  his  citadel,  his  palladium,  the  very  temple  in 
which  he  worshiped;  and  it  was  here,  when  the  circling  fire  was 
girdling  nearer  and  nearer  around  her  sacred  Capitol,  that  the 
mighty  powers  of  his  soul  came  forth  to  redeem  his  pledge,  for 
it  was  the  last  stronghold  of  his  faith.  And  it  was  here,  beneath 
the  shadow  of  these  monuments  which  attest  her  glory,  that  he 
rose  to  be  peer  of  those  whose  images  grow  brighter  by  his 
great  deeds. 

Here,  then,  comrades  of  Robert  Lee,  is  the  ground  made 
sacred  by  himself  for  the  repose  of  his  ashes.  Here,  in  front  of 
the  Capitol  of  Virginia,  let  there  be  reared  side  by  side  with  the 
monument  to  George  Washington,  an  equal  monument  to  Robert 
Lee,  that  in  all  time  to  come  our  children's  children  may  render 
equal  reverence  to  the  faith  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  and 
that  of  the  Confederate  Soldier. 

General  John  B.  Gordon,  of  Georgia,  was  introduced  by  the 
Chair,  and  spoke  as  follows: 

ADDRESS  OF  GENERAL  GORDON. 

Mr.  Chairman^  Ladies  and  Fellow  Soldiers — If  permitted  to 
indulge  the  sensibilities  of  my  nature,  I  would  gladly  have  fled 
the  performance  of  this  most  honorable  task  your  kindness  has 
imposed,  and  in  silence  to-night  have  contemplated  the  virtues 
of  the  great  and  good  man  whose  loss  we  so  deplore.  I  loved 
General  Lee,  for  it  was  my  proud  privilege  to  know  him 
well.  I  loved  him  with  a  profound  and  filial  awe — a  sincere  and 
unfeigned  affection.  We  all  loved  him,  and  it  is  not  a  matter  of 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    GORDON.  23 

surprise  that  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Virginia  should  contend 
for  that  sweetest  of  all  privileges  now  left  us — to  keep  special 
watch  over  his  grave. 

But  where  his  remains  shall  lie  is  not  the  subject  we  are  here 
to  consider.  We  are  met  to  provide,  as  suggested  by  the  reso 
lutions,  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  in  honor  of  our  great 
Captain.  Honor,  did  I  say?  Honor  General  Lee!  How  vain, 
what  utter  mockery  do  these  words  seem.  Honor  Lee!  Why, 
my  friends,  his  deeds  have  honored  him.  The  very  trump  of 
Fame  is  proud  to  honor  him.  Kurope  and  the  civilized  world 
have  honored  him  supremely,  and  history  itself  will  catch  the 
echo  and  make  it  immortal.  Honor  Lee!  Why,  sir,  the  sad 
news  of  his  death,  as  it  was  borne  to  the  world,  carried  a  pang 
even  to  the  hearts  of  marshals  and  of  monarchs;  and  I  can  easily 
fancy  that  amidst  the  din  and  clash  and  carnage  of  battle,  the 
cannon,  in  transient  pause  at  the  whispered  news,  briefly  ceased 
its  roar  around  the  walls  of  Paris. 

The  brief  time  it  would  be  proper  for  me  to  occupy  to-night  is 
altogether  insufficient  to  analyze  the  elements  which  made  him 
great.  But  I  wish  to  say  that  it  has  been  my  fortune  in  life  to 
have  come  in  contact  with  some  whom  the  world  pronounced 
great;  but  of  no  man  whom  it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to  meet 
can  it  be  so  truthfully  said,  as  of  Lee,  that,  grand  as  might  be 
your  conceptions  of  the  man  before,  he  arose  in  incomparable 
majesty  on  more  familiar  acquaintance.  This  can  be  affirmed  of 
few  men  who  have  ever  lived  or  died,  and  of  no  other  man  whom 
it  has  been  my  fortune  to  approach.  Like  Niagara,  the  more 
you  gazed  the  more  its  grandeur  grew  upon  you,  the  more  its 
majesty  expanded  and  filled  your  spirit  with  a  full  satisfaction, 
that  left  a  perfect  delight  without  the  slightest  feeling  of  oppres 
sion.  Grandly  majestic  and  dignified  in  all  his  deportment,  he 
was  genial  as  the  sunlight  of  May,  and  not  a  ray  of  that  cordial, 
social  intercourse  but  brought  warmth  to  the  heart,  as  it  did 
light  to  the  understanding. 

But  as  one  of  the  great  Captains  of  the  word,  he  will  first  pass 
review  and  inspection  before  the  criticism  of  history.  We  will 
not  compare  him  with  Washington.  The  mind  revolts  instinct 
ively  at  the  comparison  and  competition  of  two  such  men,  so 
equally  and  gloriously  great.  But  with  modest,  yet  calm  and 
unflinching  confidence,  we  place  him  by  the  side  of  the  Marl- 
boroughs  and  Wellingtons,  who  fill  such  high  niches  in  the  pan 
theon  of  immortality. 

Let  us  dwell  for  a  moment,  my  friends,  on  this  thought. 
Marlborough  never  met  defeat,  it  is  true.  Victory  marked  every 
step  of  his  triumphant  march;  but  when,  where  and  whom  did 


24  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Marlborough  fight?  The  ambitious  and  vain  but  able  Louis 
XIV  had  already  exhausted  the  resources  of  his  Kingdom  be 
fore  Marlborough  stepped  upon  the  stage.  The  great  Marshals 
Turenne  and  Condi  were  no  more,  and  Luxemburg,  we  believe, 
had  vanished  from  the  scene.  Marlborough,  pre-eminently  great, 
as  he  certainly  was,  nevertheless,  led  the  combined  forces  of 
England  and  of  Holland,  in  the  freshness  of  their  strength  and 
the  fulness  of  their  financial  ability,  against  prostate  France,  with 
a  treasury  depleted,  a  people  worn  out,  discouraged  and  dejected. 

But  let  us  turn  to  another  comparison.  The  great  Von  Moltke, 
who  now  "rides  upon  the  whirlwind  and  commands  the  storm " 
of  Prussian  invasion,  has  recently  declared  that  General  Lee,  in 
all  respects,  was  fully  the  equal  of  Wellington,  and  you  may  the 
better  appreciate  this  admission  when  you  remember  that  Wel 
lington  was  the  benefactor  of  Prussia,  and  probably  Von  Moltke's 
special  idol.  But  let  us  examine  the  arguments  ourselves. 
France  was  already  prostrate  when  Wellington  met  Napoleon. 
That  great  Emperor  had  seemed  to  make  war  upon  the  very 
elements  themselves,  to  have  contended  with  nature,  and  to  have 
almost  defied  Providence.  The  Nemesis  of  the  North,  more 
savage  than  Goth  or  Vandal,  mounting  the  swift  gales  of  a  Rus 
sian  winter,  had  carried  death,  desolation  and  ruin  to  the  very 
gates  of  Paris.  Wellington  'fought  at  Waterloo  a  bleeding  and 
broken  nation — a  nation  electrified,  it  is  true,  to  almost  super 
human  energy,  by  the  genius  of  Napoleon;  but  a  nation  prostrate 
and  bleeding,  nevertheless.  Compare  this,  my  friends,  the  con 
dition  of  France  with  the  condition  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
freshness  of  her  strength,  in  the  luxuriance  of  her  resources,  in 
the  lustihood  of  her  gigantic  youth,  and  tell  me  where  belongs 
the  chaplet  of  military  superiority,  with  Lee  or  with  Marlborough 
or  Wellington?  Even  that  greatest  of  Captains,  in  his  Italian 
campaigns,  flashing  his  fame  in  lightning  splendor  over  the  world, 
even  Bonaparte  met  and  crushed  in  battle  but  three  or  four,  I 
think,  Austrian  armies;  while  our  Lee,  with  one  army,  badly 
equipped  and  in  time  incredibly  short,  met  and  hurled  back,  in 
broken  and  shattered  fragments,  five  admirably  prepared  and 
most  magnificently  appointed  invasions.  Yes,  more:  he  dis 
crowned,  in  rapid  succession,  one  after  another,  of  the  L^nited 
States'  most  accomplished  and  admirable  commanders. 

Lee  was  never  really  beaten.  Lee  could  not  be  beaten!  Over 
powered,  foiled  in  his  efforts,  he  might  be;  but  never  defeated 
until  the  props  which  supported  him  gave  way.  Never  until  the 
platform  sank  beneath  him,  did  any  enemy  ever  dare  pursue.  On 
that  most  melancholy  of  pages,  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy, 
no  Leipsic,  no  Waterloo,  no  Sedan  can  ever  be  recorded. 


ADDRESS  OF  GENERAL  GORDON.  2 5 

General  Lee  is  known  to  the  world  only  as  a  military  man,  but 
it  is  easy  to  divine  from  his  history  how  mindful  of  all  just 
authority,  how  observant  of  all  constitutional  restrictions,  would 
have  been  his  career  as  a  civilian.  When,  near  the  conclusion  of 
the  war,  darkness  was  thickening  about  the  falling  fortunes  of 
the  Confederacy;  when  its  very  life  was  in  the  sword  of  Lee,  it 
was  my  proud  privilege  to  note,  with  special  admiration,  the 
modest  demeanor,  the  manly  decorum,  and  the  respectful  homage 
which  marked  all  his  intercourse  with  the  constituted  authorities 
of  his  country.  Clothed  with  all  power,  he  hid  its  every  symbol 
behind  a  genial  modesty,  and  refused  to  exert  it  save  in  obedience 
to  law.  And  even  in  his  triumphant  entry  into  the  territory  of 
the  enemy,  so  regardful  was  he  of  civilized  warfare,  that  the 
observance  of  his  general  orders  as  to  private  property  and 
private  rights  left  the  line  of  his  march  marked  and  marrjd  by 
no  devastated  fields,  charred  ruins  or  desolated  homes. 

But  it  is  his  private  character,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  his  per 
sonal  emotion  and  virtues,  which  his  countrymen  will  most 
delight  to  consider  and  dwell  upon.  His  magnanimity,  trans 
cending  all  historic  precedents,  seemed  to  form  a  new  chapter  in 
the  book  of  humanity.  \Yitncss  that  letter  to  Jackson,  after  his 
wounds  at  Chancellorsville,  in  which  he  said:  "1  am  praying  for 
you  with  more  fervor  than  I  ever  prayed  for  myself";  and  that 
other  more  disinterested  and  pathetic:  "I  could,  for  the  good  of 
my  country,  wish  that  the  wounds  which  you  have  received,  had 
been  inflicted  upon  my  own  body";  or  that  of  the  later  message: 
"Say  to  General  Jackson  that  his  wounds  are  not  so  severe  as 
mine,  for  he  loses  but  his  left  arm,  while  I,  in  him,  lose  my  right"; 
or  that  other  expression  of  unequalled  magnanimity  in  which  he 
ascribed  the  glory  of  their  joint  victor}-  to  the  sole  credit  of  the 
dying  hero.  Did  I  say  unequalled?  Yes,  that  was  an  avowal 
of  unequalled  magnanimity,  until  it  met  its  parallel  in  his  own 
grander  self-negation,  in  assuming  the  sole  responsibility  for  the 
failure  at  Gettysburg.  Aye,  my  countrymen,  Alexander  had  his 
Arbela,  Caesar  his  Pharsalia,  Napoleon  his  Austerlitz,  but  it  was 
reserved  for  Lee  to  grow  grander  and  more  illustrious  in  defeat 
than  ever'  in  victory — grander,  because  in  defeat  he  showed  a 
spirit  grander  than  victory,  the  heroism  of  battles,  or  all  the 
achievements  of  the  war — a  spirit  which  crowns  him  with  a  chaplet 
greener  far  than  ever  mighty  conqueror  wore. 

I  turn  me  now  to  that  last  closing  scene  at  Appomattox,  and 
draw  thence  a  picture  of  this  man  as  he  laid  aside  the  sword  of 
the  unrivaled  soldier,  to  become  the  most  exemplary  of  citizens. 

I  can  never  forget  the  deferential  homage  paid  this  great  Cap 
tain  by  even  the  Federal  soldiery,  as  with  uncovered  heads  they 
3 


26  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

contemplated  in  mute  admiration  this  now  captive  hero,  as  he 
rode  through  their  ranks.  Impressed  forever,  daguereotyped  on 
my  heart,  is  that  last  parting  scene  with  the  handful  of  heroes 
still  crowding  around  him.  Few,  indeed,  were  the  words  then 
spoken;  but  the  quivering  lip  and  the  tearful  eye  told  of  the  love 
they  bore  him,  in  symphonies  more  eloquent  than  any  language 
can  describe.  Can  I  ever  forget?  No,  never,  never,  can  I  forget 
the  words  which  fell  from  his  lips  as  I  rode  beside  him  amidst 
the  dejected  and  weeping  soldiery,  when,  turning  to  me,  he  said: 
"I  could  wish  that  I  were  numbered  among  the  fallen  in  the  last 
battle";  and  oh!  as  he  thought  of  the  loss  of  the  cause — of  the 
many  dead,  scattered  over  so  many  fields,  who  sleeping  neglected, 
Avith  no  governmental  arms  to  gather  up  their  remains,  sleeping 
isolated  and  alone  beneath  the  tearful  stars,  with  naught  but 
their  soldier  blankets  about  them — oh !  as  these  emotions  swept 
over  his  great  soul,  he  felt  that  he  would  fain  have  laid  him  down 
to  rest  in  the  same  grave  where  lies  buried  the  common  hope  of 
his  people.  But  Providence  willed  it  otherwise.  He  rests  now 
forever,  my  countrymen,  his  spirit  in  the  bosom  of  that  Father 
whom  he  so  faithfully  served,  his  body  in  the  Valley,  surrounded 
by  the  mountains  of  his  native  State — mountains,  the  autumnal 
glories  of  whose  magnificent  forests  now  seem  but  habiliments 
of  mourning — in  the  Valley,  the  pearly  dewdrops  on  whose  grass 
and  flowers  seem  but  tears  of  sadness. 

No  sound  shall  ever,  wake  him  to  martial  glory  again.  No 
more  shall  he  lead  his  invincible  lines  to  victory.  No  more  shall 
we  gaze  upon  him  and  draw  from  his  quiet  demeanor  lessons  of 
life.  But  oh!  it  is  a  sweet  consolation  to  us  who  loved  him  that 
no  more  shall  his  bright  spirit  be  bowed  down  to  the  earth  with 
the  burden  of  his  people's  wrongs.  It  is  sweet  consolation  to  us 
that  this  last  victory,  through  faith  in  his  crucified  Redeemer,  is 
the  most  transcendently  glorious  of  all  his  triumphs. 

It  is  meet  that  we  should  build  to  his  memory  a  monument 
here — here  in  this  devoted  city — here  on  these  classic  hills — a 
monument  as  enduring  as  their  granite  foundations — here  beside 
the  river  whose  banks  are  ever  memorable  and  whose  waters  are 
vocal  with  the  glories  of  his  triumphs. 

Here  let  the  monument  stand  as  a  testimonial  to  all  peoples 
and  countries  and  ages  of  our  appreciation  of  the  man  who,  in 
all  the  aspects  of  his  career  and  character  and  attainments — as  a 
great  Captain,  ranking  among  the  first  of  any  age — as  a  patriot, 
whose  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  his  country  renders  him  the 
peer  of  Washington — as  a  Christian  like  Havelock,  recognizing 
his  duty  to  his  God  above  every  other  consideration — with  a 
native  modesty  which  refused  to  appropriate  a  glory  all  his  own, 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  2/ 

and  which  surrounds  with  a  halo  of  light  his  whole  career  and 
character — \vith  a  fidelity  to  principle  which  no  misfortunes  could 
shake — with  an  integrity  of  life  and  sacred  reverence  for  truth 
which  no  man  can  dare  to  assail — must  ever  stand  peerless 
among  men  in  the  estimation  of  Cristendom. 

Mr.  Davis  then  requested  Colonel  Charles  Marshall,  of  Balti 
more,  to  address  the  meeting.  Colonel  Marshall  replied  that  he 
felt  unworthy  to  stand  upon  ground  which  had  been  occupied 
by  the  eminent  speakers  who  had  preceded  him,  and  therefore 
preferred  remaining  on  the  floor.  The  Chair  at  once  replied, 
"The  friend  and  military  secretary  of  Lee  is  worthy  to  occupy 
anv  ground,  sir,"  and  insisted  that  Colonel  Marshall  should  come 
upon  the  stand,  which  he  then  did  amid  great  applause,  and 
spoke  as  follows: 

ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL. 

Nothing  but  an  earnest  desire  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  pro 
mote  the  object  of  our  meeting  to-night  induces  me  to  occupy 
this  stand.  I  feel  my  unfitness  to  address  those  who  have  lis 
tened  to  men  whose  names,  I  may  say,  without  flattery,  are  his 
toric — whose  valor  and  constancy  deserved  and  enjoyed  the  con 
fidence  of  our  great  leader.  More  especially  am  I  unworthy  to 
stand  where  just  now  he  stood  who,  amidst  all  the  cares  and 
trials  of  the  eventful  period  during  which  he  guided  the  destinies 
of  the  Confederacy,  amidst  all  the  dangers  and  difficulties  that 
surrounded  him,  amidst  all  the  vicissitudes  of  victory  and  dis 
aster,  always  and  on  all  occasions,  gave  the  aid  of  his  eminent 
abilities,  his  unfaltering  "courage  and  his  pure  patriotism,  to  our 
illustrious  chief. 

But  on  behalf  of  those  who  are  with  me  to-night  from  Mary 
land,  I  desire  to  say  a  few  words  in  support  of  the  resolutions  of 
the  Committee. 

These  resolutions  require  that  a  monument  shall  be  erected, 
and  that  it  shall  be  erected  in  Richmond. 

In  both  propositions  we  most  heartily  concur. 

We  are  assembled  not  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a  tomb 
stone  on  which  to  write,  "  Here  lies  Robert  E.  Lee,"  but  to  rear  a 
cloud-piercing  monument  which  shall  tell  to  coming  generations, 

"Here  lived  Robert  E.  Lcc" 

We  desire  something  worthy  to  transmit  the  lesson  of  his 
example,  and  of  our  undying  love,  to  posterity,  and  to  this  end 
we  invoke  the  aid  not  only  of  those  who  followed  the  flashing 


28  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

of  his  stainless  sword,  but  of  all  who  reverence  the  memory  of 
his  spotless  life.  We  wish  to  concentrate  all  efforts  upon  the 
attainment  of  this  great  end,  not  that  we  may  honor  him,  but 
that  we  may  preserve,  for  the  good  of  all  mankind,  the  memory 
of  his  achievements  and  the  teaching  of  his  example. 

And  it  is  eminently  proper  that  such  a  monument  should  be 
erected  in  Richmond. 

Here  was  the  scene  of  his  greatest  labors  and  his  greatest 
triumphs.  In  defence  of  this  city  he  displayed  those  great  quali 
ties  which  have  given  him  the  lofty  position  assigned  him  by  the 
unanimous  voice  of  his  time  and  secured  for  him  the  love,  the 
gratitude  and  the  affectionate  veneration  of  the  people  for  whose 
liberties  he  fought. 

All  his  campaigns,  all  the  battles,  whether  among  the  hills  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  or  upon  the  banks  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy  and  the  Appomattox,  had  for  their  great  object  the  pro 
tection  of  Richmond. 

Here  lie  buried  the  dead  of  every  State,  from  Maryland  to 
Texas,  and  to  this  spot,  to  Hollywood,  the  hearts  of  wives,  of 
mothers  and  of  sisters,  from  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  to  those 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  are  ever  sadly  but  proudly  turning. 

No  other  place  in  the  South  unites  so  entirely  the  sympathies 
and  affections  of  her  people. 

To  raise  his  monument  here,  within  sight  of  the  fields  on 
which  he  won  his  fame  and  among  the  graves  of  those  who  were 
faithful  to  him  unto  death,  seems  to  us,  therefore,  to  be  most 
appropriate.  We  do  not  propose  now  to  say  what  that  monu 
ment  shall  be,  but  to  adopt  measures  which  will  enable  us  to 
invite  the  taste,  the  cultivation  and  the  genius  of  our  age  to 
compete  in  furnishing  a  suitable  design. 

And  we  hope  to  find  some  one  who  can  rise  to  the  height  of 
the  great  argument,  grasping  the  subject,  realizing  the  character 
and  achievements  of  our  leader,  feeling  the  love,  the  gratitude, 
the  veneration  of  our  people,  and  grouping  all,  around  this  hal 
lowed  spot,  write  in  one  enduring  word  the  story  of  General  Lee, 
his  army  and  his  country. 

There  is  one  other  reason  why  we  should  erect  a  monument, 
and  why  we  should  erect  it  here.  It  is  that  we  may  perpetuate 
for  our  guidance  the  lesson  taught  by  his  example  when  war 
was  done  and  all  his  efforts  had  ended  in  failure.  In  that  lesson 
the  whole  country  has  an  immediate  interest.  History  presents 
no  parallel  to  the  sudden  cessasion  of  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Southern  people  after  the  surrender  at  Appomattox.  In  a 
few  short  weeks,  where  armies  had  but  lately  confronted  each 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL  29 

other,  peace  was  fully  restored  and  not  an  armed  Southron  could 
be  found  within  our  borders. 

'•  It  seemed  as  if  their  mother  earth 
Had  swallowed  up  her  warlike  birth." 

The  Federal  Government  manifested  its  confidence  in  the 
pledges  made  by  the  soldiers  and  people  of  the  Confederacy  by 
sending  companies  and  regiments  to  control  those  before  whom 
corps  and  armies  had  fled.  That  Government  knew  well  that 
the  handful  of  troops  sent  ostensibly  to  overawe  the  South  could 
repose  securely  upon  that  honor  which  they  insulted  by  their 
presence. 

And  in  that  confidence,  shame  be  it  said,  wrongs  were  inflicted 
upon  our  people,  which  we  have  the  authority  of  unquestioned 
loyalty  for  saying  ought  not  to  be  meekly  borne  by  men  of 
English  blood. 

But  the  Federal  Government  knew  that  the  Southern  people 
looked  for  guidance  to  their  leaders,  and  that  foremost  among1 

o  t> 

those  leaders  they  looked  to  General  Lee.  He  had  given  the 
pledge  of  his  honor,  and  his  people  regarded  his  honor  as  their 
own. 

Relying  upon  his  influence  with  his  countrymen,  and  knowing 
that  his  influence  would  be  exerted  to  secure  the  most  perfect 
compliance  with  the  terms  of  his  surrender,  the  dominant  party 
in  the  North  entered  upon  a  course  of  systematic  oppression  and 
insult  which  would  have  justified  him  in  renouncing  the  oblina- 

J  o  o 

tions  of  the  terms  made  at  Appomattox. 

But  his  word  was  given  and  nothing  could  change  it.  The 
dastardly  wrongs  inflicted  upon  his  people  could  break  and  did 
break  his  great  heart,  but  could  not  make  him  swerve  from  his 
truth.  He  bore  all  in  silence  until  he  died,  and  his  people  looked 
upon  him  and  gathered  strength  to  bear. 

New  outrages  upon  our  liberties  and  rights,  new  insults  to  our 
honor,  may  tempt  us  sometimes  to  forget  that  our  hands  no 
longer  hold  the  sabre  or  the  rifle.  To  whom  shall  we  turn  for 
that  strength  which  will  enable  us  to  keep  faith  with  the  faithless? 

We  can  no  longer  see  the  noble  example  which  he  set  before 
us;  but  that  we  may  not  err  from  the  path  in  which  he  trod,  let 
us  here,  at  the  place  towards  which  the  eyes  and  hearts  of  all 
our  people  turn,  rear  a  monument,  to  which,  when  tempted  to 
resist,  we  may  look  and  learn  afresh  the  lesson  of  that  sublime 
patience  which  he  illustrated,  and  which,,  my  fellow  soldiers  and 
countrymen,  be  assured,  will,  like  the  anvil,  wear  out  many 
hammers. 


3O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Colonel  Marshall  was  succeeded  by  General  Henry  A.  Wise, 
who  spoke  as  follows: 

ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    WISE. 

Mr.  President  and  Comrades  of  the  Confederacy — I  cannot  trust 
the  fullness  of  my  heart  at  the  moment  of  this  meeting  to  prompt 
my  lips  with  the  words  becoming  the  bier  of  General  Robert  E. 
Lee,  whose  death  has  called  together  some  of  his  surviving  com 
rades. 

It  is  no  occasion  for  any  sketch  of  biography  or  history; 
eulogy  upon  his  life  and  death  is  vain;  his  character  excels  all 
praise;  his  merits  need  not  to  be  disclosed  and  his  faults  had  no 
"dread  abodes,"  for  they  all  leaned  to  virtue's  side.  Whatever 
faults  he  had,  and  whatever  blame  belonged  to  him,  no  friend  or 
•foe  could  point  them  out  half  as  readily  as  his  truthful  ingenuous 
ness  would  admit  and  mourn  them.  He  was  swifter  than  the 
accuser  to  accuse  himself,  and  ever  generous  to  the  faults  of 
others;  he  was  ever  foremost  to  acknowledge  his  own.  If  noth 
ing  is  to  be  said  of  the  dead  but  what  is  good,  there  is  a  super 
abundance  of  good  in  his  life  and  death  to  compose  volumes  for 
the  instruction  of  mankind.  He  is  departed  and  gone  to  his 
Father,  but  it  cannot  be  said  of  him  that  he  is  "no  more."  His 
fame  is  left  to  earth  for  all  time — his  great  and  good  soul  is 
in  heaven  for  all  eternity;  and  from  his  example  proceeds  a 
moral  power  and  divine  force  which  all  the  arms  of  earth  and 
powers  of  darkness  cannot  subdue,  a  wisdom  and  virtue  which 
shall  hover  over  the  land  he  loved,  and  spread  it  with  the  fruits 
of  righteousness  and  truth.  That  is  enough  to  be  said  of  him, 
and  it  is  left  for  us  to  cherish  his  memory  and  keep  the  legacies 
of  lessons  he  taught. 

The  first  fruit  of  his  demise  is  the  happy  result  of  bringing  us 
together  for  the  first  time  since  he  gave  up  the  sword  which  he 
accepted  with  the  pledge  to  devote  it  to  the  gods  and  the  altars 
of  his  home,  and  to  sheath  it  only  when  his  work  was  finished. 
He  sheathed  it  not  until  his  whole  duty  was  discharged  and  his 
work  was  done.  He  made  us  honor,  love  and  confide  in  him, 
and  taught  us  how  to  deserve  the  honor,  love  and  confidence  of 
each  other;  and  I  pray  you  now  to  form  a  brotherhood  in  peace 
which  shall  perpetuate  our  comradeship  in  war,  worthy  of  the 
armies  of  the  Confederacy  and  of  their  illustrious  Chief. 

In  its  initiation  let  it  be  like  what  the  Cincinnati  Society  after 
the  first  American  Revolution  was  to  Washington — full  of  affec 
tions  and  memories  of  which  the  great  Chief  was  the  centre — 
but  let  it  never  fail  or  expire  as  the  Cincinnati  did,  for  reason  or 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    WISE.  3! 

suspicion  even  of  any  designs  of  paltry  party  politics.  Let  our 
standards  be  still  the  standard  of  Robert  E.  Lee — God,  Religion, 
Honor,  Truth  and  our  Country!  Let  us  unite  in  one  grand 
Confederate  brotherhood,  with  subordinate  auxiliary  organiza 
tions  for  each  Confederate  army,  to  foster  our  affections,  to 
cherish  our  memories,  and  to  preserve  our  history.  There  is  a 
necessity  for  all  this,  for  we  are  scattered  and  separated  from  each 
other,  and  may  lose  our  fellow  feeling;  we  are  fast  dying  away 
from  memory,  and  may  soon  be  forgotten ;  and  the  spoiler  is 
now  busily  and  rapidly  taking  from  us,  by  the  pen,  the  truth  of 
history,  more  precious  to  us  than  all  the  spoils  of  war  which 
were  ever  captured  by  his  sword. 

This,  I  trust,  will  be  the  main  object  of  this  meeting.  Mourn 
we  must,  in  silent  submission  to  God's  will,  but  we  must  act  to 
save  what  is  most  precious  to  us  and  our  children,  as  well  as 
grieve  for  what  is  lost. 

\Ve  have  lost  much,  but  we  did  much.  We  were  obliged  to 
fail,  and  we  did  fail;  but  what  men  on  earth  ever  did  more,  or  as 
much,  in  a  struggle  for  "hope  against  hope"?  Will  Paris,  with 
her  millions,  stand  as  long  as  Richmond  did?  Will  the  Belle  of 
Nations,  that  lily  of  their  garden,  France,  endure  against  equal 
odds  as  long  as  the  devoted  Confederacy  stood  against  all  the 
odds  of  all  the  earth?  Passing  events  point  to  the  justice  due 
us,  and  we  will  not  be  true  to  ourselves  if  we  neglect  or  omit  to 
claim  our  own  in  history.  Contrasts  now  casting  lights  and 
shadows  on  earth  are  illustrating  causes  of  failures  in  battles  and 
causes  of  the  downfall  of  nations.  We  fell  in  weakness  of  mere 
numbers,  and  there  are  causes  for  that  weakness  which  we  must 
scan.  And  we  have  not  only  affections  to  foster,  memories  to 
cherish,  truth  to  preserve,  but  liberties  to  be  regained.  This  is  a 
great  work,  and  we  ought  to  be  up  and  about  it. 

Monuments  are  but  mites  compared  with  this  work.  General 
Lee's  remains  are  in  a  Temple  of  the  Living  God,  selected  by 
himself  for  the  depository  of  his  body  amidst  the  last  of  his 
labors.  Stone  and  mortar  can't  add  one  cubit  to  his  stature;  his 
monument  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Confederacy;  and  on  that  topic 
I  have  but  a  word  to  add:  that  I  would  delight  to  see  a  design 
of  true  art  placed  over  or  at  his  tomb — no  meretricious  mockery  of 
all  taste,  such  as  Northern  mechanics  have  put  upon  the  monu 
ment  of  George  Washington  in  the  Captiol  Square  of  this  metrop 
olis — but  a  work  of  some  native  artist  of  the  South,  like  that  of 
Houdon,  worthy  of  the  man  it  moulds.  We  have  an  artist  here, 
Mr.  Edward  Valentine,  of  Richmond,  who  has  already  made  the 
plaster  speak  a  very  Lee,  and  he  can  make  the  Parian  express 
him  to  the  very  life. 


32  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

And  now,  sir,  pardon,  I  pray  you,  the  egotism  of  an  old  man 
when  I  add  that  the  age  of  General  Lee  was  within  a  few  days 
the  same  as  my  own.  I  was  with  him  from  the  very  first  to  the 
very  last  of  his  campaigns.  I  honored,  loved  and  obeyed  him 
for  four  years.  He  has,  in  the  words  of  his  last  moments,  struck 
his  tent.  In  a  very  short  time  I  shall  receive  the  mandate  to 
strike  my  tent  too,  and  I  now  pray  that  when  that  order  comes 
to  you  and  to  me,  that  we  may  all  be  ready  to  follow  him  in  the 
march  to  that  "bourne  whence  no  traveler  returns" — to  join  him 
in  that  innumerable  army  of  the  Captain  of  Salvation,  who  is 
invincible,  who  hath  demanded  of  Death  his  sting,  and  of  the 
grave  its  victory.  There  is  no  more  sting  for  General  Lee,  and 
his  now  is  the  victory.  In  defeat  he  was  glorious,  and  in  death 
more  than  victorious. 

Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston,  of  Kentucky,  next  occu 
pied  the  stand. 

ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    PRESTON    JOHNSTON. 

Mr.  President  and  Fellow  Soldiers — A  few  minutes  since  I  was 
informed  that  I  was  expected  to  address  you.  This  unexpected 
honor  greatly  embarrasses  me,  tired  with  two  days'  travel,  just 
off  the  cars,  and  physically  unfit  to  appear  before  you.  It  would 
ill  become  me,  moreover,  to  follow  with  any  elaborate  attempt 
the  golden-mouthed  orator  of  Virginia,  or  to  utter  panegyric 
after  him  whose  lightest  word  makes  history,  and  who,  while  he 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  Confederacy,  never  failed  to  cheer  his 
chosen  Captain  with  counsel  and  comfort,  or  to  uphold  his  arm 
in  the  hour  of  battle  with  all  the  force  at  his  command.  It 
would  ill  become  me  here,  surrounded  by  the  soldiers  who 
shared  in  the  glories  of  Lee,  and  after  the  speeches  of  his  trusted 
military  friends  and  of  his  great  Lieutenants,  who  rode  down 
with  him  to  battle,  to  paint  again  the  meridian  splendor  of  his 
great  campaigns.  But  if  you  are  williftg  to  listen  to  some  brief 
passages  of  his  latter  life,  I  will  not  detain  you  long. 

It  was  my  fortune  after  the  war  to  be  called  from  my  distant 
home  in  Kentucky  by  a  request  which,  in  the  mouth  of  General 
Lee,  was  equivalent  to  a  command.  For  four  years  I  have 
watched  with  reverential  affection  the  final  scenes  of  that  life,  so 
magnificent  in  achievements  and  then  so  beautiful  towards  its 
end.  When  he  had  gone  down  through  the  bitter  waters  of 
Appomattox  from  the  martial  glories  of  the  war  to  the  quiet  of 
civic  pursuits,  that  life,  always  consecrated  to  duty,  was  rounded 
to  a  perfect  close.  Turning  his  face  to  the  desolated  land  for 


ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  WILLIAM   PRESTON  JOHNSTON.  33 

which  he  had  done  and  suffered  so  much,  he  stretched  forth  his 
hand  to  staunch  the  wounds  he  had  been  unable  to  avert,  and 
that  hand  willingly  did  the  work  it  found  to  do.  As  President 
of  Washington  College,  teaching  the  sons  of  his  soldiers  by  pre 
cept  and  example,  he  presented  to  the  world  the  noble  spectacle 
of  one  who  could  take  up  the  severed  threads  of  a  career  broken 
by  disaster  and  bind  them  in  all  their  former  strength  and  use 
fulness. 

Here,  in  the  sunset  of  his  days,  shone  forth  his  exalted  worth, 
the  wonderful  tenderness  of  his  nature,  and  the  dignity  and  com 
posure  of  his  soul.  As  an  illustration  of  some  of  these  qualities, 
I  may  mention  that  the  last  hours  of  his  active  life  were  spent 
in  a  vestry  meeting,  where  I  was  present,  and  that  he  there 
evinced  great  solicitude  that  the  veteran  Soldier  of  the  Cross 
who  served  as  his  minister  should  be  secure  of  a  decent  mainte 
nance,  and  that  the  House  of  God  where  he  worshiped  should 
be  a  not  unworthy  temple  to  His  name.  Yet  even  there  he 
passed  the  few  minutes  preceding  the  meeting  in  smoothing  away 
the  asperities  springing  from  differences  of  opinion,  with  playful 
anecdote  and  pleasant  reminiscence  of  that  saintly  servant  of 
God,  Bishop  Meade, and  that  noble  pillar  of  constitutional  juris 
prudence,  Chief  Justice  Marshall. 

Fifteen  minutes  after  we  parted  with  him  he  was  stricken  with 
his  last  illness,  and  during  this  it  was  sometimes  my  sad  duty  to 
minister  to  his  needs.  I  feel  that  in  an  assembly  where  every 
heart  throbs  with  sorrow  for  our  departed  Chieftain,  I  violate  no 
confidence  by  adverting  to  a  death-bed  every  way  worthy  of  the 
life  it  ended.  Once  in  the  solemn  watches  of  the  night,  when  I 
handed  him  the  prescribed  nourishment,  he  turned  upon  me  a 
look  of  friendly  recognition,  and  then  cast  down  his  eyes  with 
such  a  sadness  in  them  that  I  can  never  forget  it.  J^ut  he  spoke 
not  a  word;  and  this,  not  because  he  was  unable,  for  when  he 
chose,  he  did  speak  brief  sentences  with  distinct  enunciation,  but 
because,  before  friends  or  family  or  physicians  feared  the  impend 
ing  stroke,  he  saw  the  open  portals  of  death  and  chose  to  wrap 
himself  in  an  unbroken  silence  as  he  went  down  to  enter  them. 
He,  against  whom  no  man  could  charge  in  a  long  life  a  word 
that  should  not  have  been  spoken,  chose  to  leave  the  deeds  of 
that  life  to  speak  for  him.  To  me,  this  woful  silence,  this  voice 
less  majesty,  was  the  grandest  feature  of  that  grand  death. 

I  did  not  come  here  to-night  expecting  to  speak;  but  as  the 
opportunity  is  afforded  me,  I  cannot  forbear  to  remove  the  great 
misapprehension,  by  whatsoever  means  and  for  whatsoever  pur 
poses  propagated,  that  I  discover  in  Richmond,  as  to  the  burial 
of  General  Lee.  I  claim  the  right  to  disabuse  your  minds  as  to 


34  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  conduct  of  the  authorities  of  Washington  College  and  the 
people  of  Rockbridge,  by  a  calm  statement  of  facts.  When 
General  Lee  died,  our  people  only  did  that  which  we  could  not 
have  left  undone  without  disrespect  to  the  dead,  disregard  to  the 
feelings  of  the  living,  and  disgrace  to  ourselves.  We  tendered  a 
vault  for  the  deposit  of  the  honored  remains,  not  only  without 
stipulation  as  to  retaining  them,  but  with  the  express  assurance 
to  Mrs.  Lee  that  if  at  any  time  she  should  desire  their  removal, 
her  slightest  wish  would  be  respected.  This  offer  was  accepted, 
and  the  hands  of  soldiers  committed  the  great  Soldier  to  the 
tomb.  We  considered  the  decision  of  where  his  final  resting 
place  should  be  a  subject  too  delicate  and  too  sacred  for  discus 
sion,  much  less  altercation,  and  felt  that  the  sure  instinct  of 
domestic  affection  would  furnish  the  safest  guide.  To  the  be 
reaved  widow,  unconstrained  by  popular  clamor,  belonged  the 
custody  of  the  dead,  and  the  right  to  weep  over  the  loved  and 
the  lost  was  more  sacred  than  even  the  gratification  of  a  laudable 
State  pride.  When  we  had  placed  him  in  the  grave,  we  resolved 
to  decorate  his  tomb  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  spot  where  he 
lay;  for  even  if  his  ashes  were  removed,  his  spirit  would  abide 
with  us  and  preside  over  us,  and  should  be  honored  with  fitting 
memorials.  When  the  request  for  his  removal  was  made  by  the 
Legislature,  the  soldiers  who  had  followed  his  coffin,  in  coming 
from  his  burial,  said  they  would  esteem  it  a  high  honor  to  guard 
the  sacred  dust,  if  his  family  approved;  and  the  hearts  of  all  our 
people  responded.  Certainly  an  honor,  certainly  a  sacred  charge, 
certainly  a  sure  influence  for  good  among  all  the  hundreds  of  repre 
sentative  young  men  who  would  keep  constant  watch  and  ward  in 
solemn  vigil  about  the  tomb!  And  even  if  hereafter  these  earthly 
relics  are  borne  away,  a  mighty  memory  will  remain  where  he  stood 
and  wrought  and  died.  Most  assuredly  I  am  swayed  by  no 
merely  local  feeling.  If  born  upon  another  soil,  yet  the  blood  of 
a  Virginian  ancestry  flows  in  my  veins,  and  it  was  to  offer  my 
sword  in  defence  of  Virginia  that  I  left  my  native  State.  I  know 
the  heroism  of  this  city,  for  I  stood  within  its  fire-girdled  walls 
in  the  hour  of  its  greatest  straits,  and  oh !  how  well  I  remember 
the  bitter  agony  and  the  heart-breaks  of  those  years.  I  know 
that  it  was  for  the  protection  of  this  city  that  General  Lee  won 
his  just  renown.  Yes!  here  is  the  place  to  build  a  monument, 
here  is  the  spot  to  rear  a  cenotaph,  to  him  who  stood  like  a  rock 
of  defence  before  you.  My  colleagues  and  I  will  do  our  full 
share  towards  this  noble  expression  of  a  nation's  love;  and  the 
people  of  the  Valley,  who  followed  him  and  fought  for  you,  will 
delight  to  help  raise  in  this  capital  city  of  the  Confederacy  a 
splendid  and  enduring  monument  to  his  fame.  But  if  the  hearts 


ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS.         35 

of  his  family  should  decide  that  the  proper  resting  place  of  the 
great  hero  is  where  it  would  keep  unbroken  the  family  circle,  and 
leave  it  to  repose  amid  the  scenes  of  his  last  labors,  in  the  very 
chapel  built  as  it  were  by  his  own  hands,  at  the  home  where  he 
chose  to  live  and  chose  to  die,  his  old  soldiers  here  will  not 
grudge  to  the  faithful  hearts  he  had  called  around  him  in  his  last 
years  the  privilege  and  the  honor  of  guarding  his  tomb.  When 
I  speak  of  the  chapel  he  built  with  his  own  Jiamis,  out  of  the  first 
fruits  of  the  offerings  of  the  South  to  enable  him  to  carry  out 
his  work  of  education,  I  go  but  little  beyond  the  litteral  fact. 
His  hand  tried  with  plummet  and  trowel  almost  every  stone  in 
the  massive  foundation  of  that  stately  structure,  and  the  fact  has 
a  melancholy  significance  when  we  reflect  that  it  incloses  his 
tomb.  I  said  he  chose  to  live  and  to  die  at  Lexington.  No  action 
of  his  admirable  life  was  an  accident,  and  it  was  with  a  settled 
purpose  that  he  took  charge  of  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the 
South  when,  oppressed  by  overwhelming  numbers,  he  selected 
this  retreat.  You  remember  that  it  was  these  mountains  that 
Washington  named  as  the  fortress  of  American  freedom,  and 
where,  as  you  have  heard,  General  Lee  said  he  could  keep  the 
enemy  at  bay  twenty  years ;  and  here  he  spent  the  remnant  of 
his  clays  in  usefulness  and  honor. 

And  now,  comrades,  I  have  only  to  add  that,  while  a  beautiful 
memorial  will  be  erected  above  the  present  tomb  of  General  Lee 
to  testify  our  love  and  reverence,  I  trust  no  effort  will  be  spared 
to  rear  in  Richmond  a  stately  monument  to  his  fame,  worthy  of 
the  man  and  of  the  cause  in  which  he  suffered. 

Colonel  Robert  K.  Withers,  of  Virginia,  followed  in  support  of 
the  resolutions. 

ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS. 

Mr.  President  and  Comrades — After  the  gorgeous  offerings 
which,  in  such  rich  profusion,  have  been  laid  in  votive  heaps  on  the 
tomb  of  our  departed  hero,  it  is  perhaps  but  meet  that  I  should 
appear  bearing  the  feeble  tribute  of  my  love,  and  with  respectful 
reverence  place  the  modest  chaplet  on  the  same  holy  shrine;  for 
I  stand  before  you  the  representative  of  the  mass  of  officers  and 
men  of  his  command.  It  was  to  have  been  expected  that  the 
companions  of  his  earlier  years  and  the  friends  of  his  later  man 
hood — that  those  endeared  by  the  sweets  of  daily  social  inter 
course,  and  yet  more,  those  trusted  heroes  who  launched  with  red 
right  hand  the  bolts  of  his  admirable  strategy  upon  the  fore-front 
of  the  enemy— that  these  should  give  utterance  to  feelings  of 


36  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

high  appreciation,  of  profound  admiration,  of  reverential  regard. 
But  I  can  lay  claim  to  no  such  enviable  intimacy.  My  personal 
intercourse  with  Genetal  Lee  was  unfrequent;  yet  I,  in  common 
with  every  ragged  and  dust-begrimed  soldier  who  followed  his 
banner,  loved  him  with  deepest  devotion.  And  why  was  this  the 
predominant  sentiment  of  his  soldiery?  The  answer  is  obvious: 
Because  lie  loved  his  men.  His  military  achievements  may  have 
been  rivaled,  possibly  surpassed,  by  other  great  commanders. 
Alexander,  Marlborough,  Wellington,  Napoleon,  each  and  all 
excited  the  admiration,  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  aroused  the 
enthusiasm  of  their  soldiers;  but  none  of  these  were  loved  as  Lee 
was  loved. 

They  considered  their  soldiers  as  mere  machines  prepared  to 
perform  a  certain  part  in  the  great  drama  of  the  battlefield. 
They  regarded  not  the  question  of  human  life  as  a  controlling 
element  in  their  calculations.  With  unmoved  eye  and  unquick- 
ened  pulse,  they  marched  their  solid  columns  into  the  very  vor 
tex  of  destruction,  without  reck  or  care  for  the  waste  of  life 
involved.  But  General  Lee  never  forgot  that  his  men  were 
fellow-beings  as  well  as  soldiers.  He  cared  for  them  with  paren 
tal  solicitude,  nor  ever  relaxed  his  efforts  to  promote  their  com 
fort  and  protect  their  lives. ,  A  striking  exemplification  of  this 
trait  can  be  found  in  his  constant  habit  of  turning  over  to  the 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers  in  the  hospital  such  delicate  viands  as 
the  partiality  of  friends  furnished  for  his  personal  consumption, 
preferring  for  himself  the  plain  fare  of  the  camp,  that  his 
sick  soldiers  might  enjoy  the  unwonted  luxuries.  These  facts 
were  well  known  throughout  the  army;  and  hence  his  soldiery, 
though  often  ragged  and  emaciated,  though  suffering  from  pri 
vations,  and  cold,  and  nakedness,  never  faltered  in  their  devotion, 
or  abated  one  tittle  of  their  love  for  him.  They  knew  it  was  not 
his  fault. 

Of  the  indignities  and  injuries  inflicted  on  General  Lee  and 
his  countrymen  it  becomes  us  not  now  to  speak.  I  have  no 
resentful  feelings  towards  those  who  met  us  in  manly  conflict,  but 
the  recollection  of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  since  the  war  upon 
a  defenceless  people,  arouses  a  storm  of  angry  feeling  which 
neither  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  nor  the  sanctity  of  the 
place  will  suffice  to  quell.  I  can  only  raise  my  eyes  to  Lee's 
God,  and  pray  for  grace  to  forgive  as  I  hope  to  be  forgiven.  The 
resolutions  proposed  by  the  Committee  meet  my  hearty  appro 
val.  Monumental  rewards  are  but  the  expression  of  a  nation's 
gratitude  for  distinguished  service  and  reverence  for  the  mighty 
dead.  They  are  not  designed  to  do  honor  to  the  dead,  but 
mark  the  respect  and  love  of  the  living;  and  surely  no  one  has 


ELECTION    OF    OFFICERS.  37 

commanded  such  respect  and  gratitude  or  excited  such  love  as 
our  late  Commander.  Whether  the  monument  be  reared  in 
Richmond  or  in  Lexington — whether  it  casts  its  shadows  over 
the  rushing  waters  of  the  James,  or  bathes  its  summit  in  the 
pure  air  of  the  mountains,  amid  which  his  parting  spirit  took  its 
upward  flight — it  will  cause  all  who  gaze  upon  it  to  feel  their 
hearts  more  pure,  their  gratitude  more  warm,  their  sense  of  duty 
more  exalted,  and  their  love  of  country  touched  by  a  holier 
ffame.  But  neither  classic  bust,  nor  monumental  marble,  nor 
lofty  cenotaph,  nor  stately  urn,  nor  enduring  bronze,  nor  ever 
lasting  granite,  can  add  to  his  glory  in  this  land  he  loved  so 
well — for  here 

uThe  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  river. 
Roll  mingling  with  his  fame  forever." 

The  resolutions,  as  reported,  were  then  unanimously  adopted, 
and  the  following  officers  of  the  Lee  Monument  Association 
therein  recommended  were  elected: 

President — Lieutenant-General  JLT.AL  A.  KARI.Y. 

J^x  ecu  tire  Committee. 

Colonel  WALTER  II.  TAYLOR  Xorfolk. 

Brigadier-General  B.  T.  . JOHNSON Richmond. 

Major  ROBERT  STILES Richmond. 

R.  II.  MAURY,  Esq Richmond. 

Colonel  THOMAS  H.  CARTER King  William  county. 

Colonel  C.  S.  VEVABLE rnivci>ity  of  Va. 

Captain  R.  D.  MINOR Richmond. 

Secretary. 
Colonel  T.  M.  R.  TALCOTT Richmond. 

Treasurer. 
Colonel  W.  II.  PALMER..,  ...Richmond. 


Sergeant  C.  P.  ALLEN Richmond. 

Chairmen  of  State  Executive  Committees. 

Major-General  I.  R.  TRIMBLE Maryland. 

Major-General  J.  C.  BRECKINRIDGE Kentucky. 

Major-General  J.  S.  MARMADUKE Missouri. 

Lieutenant-General  N.  B.  FORREST Tennessee. 

Major-General  R.  F.  HOKE North  Carolina. 

Lieutenant-General  WADE  HAMPTON South  Carolina. 

Major-General  JOHN  B.  GORDON Georgia. 

Brigadier-General  PERRY Florida. 

Lieutenant-General  WILLIAM  J.  HARDEE Alabama. 

Brigadier-General  B.  G.  HUMPHREYS Mississippi. 

General  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD Louisiana. 

Brigadier-General  W.  L.  CABELL Arkansas. 

Major  JOHN  S.  SELLERS Texas. 

W.  W.  CORCORAN,  Esq Washington,  D.  C. 


ORGANIZATION 


OF 


ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA  ASSOCIATION. 


Pursuant  to  appointment  of  the  preceding  evening,  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  met  at  the 
Theatre  at  eleven  o'clock  on  Friday  morning. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Colonel  Robert  E.  Withers, 
on  whose  motion  General  Early  was  elected  Chairman,  and  de 
veloped  the  objects  of  the  meeting  in  his  opening  address. 

REMARKS    OF    GENERAL    EARLY. 

Gentlemen — I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  kind  feelings  you 
manifest  towards  me,  but  this  meeting  has  been  called  for  busi 
ness,  and  the  occasion  is  not  one  for  speaking.  Before  I  take  my 
seat,  however,  I  desire  to  say  to  you  that  it  comes  within  my 
own  knowledge  that  our  lamented  Commander  was  preparing  to 
write  a  history  of  the  campaigns  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia.  The  execution  of  this  work  by  him  has  been  prevented 
by  his  death,  and  it  devolves  upon  the  survivors  of  that  army  to 
see  that  the  truth  of  history  is  vindicated,  and  that  the  deeds  of 
themselves  and  their  fallen  comrades  are  not  transmitted  to  pos 
terity,  through  the  medium  of  crude  histories  compiled,  by  mer 
cenary  writers,  from  the  accounts  of  newspaper  correspondents, 
who  remained  in  the  rear  and  never  went  to  the  front,  or  in  the 
libellous  productions  of  our  adversaries,  who  have  been  con 
stantly  engaged  and  are  now  engaged  in  the  effort  to  make  our 
cause  and  its  adherents  odious  by  all  the  arts  of  writing,  speak 
ing,  painting  and  illustrated  printing,  as  well  as  by  penal  enact 
ments.  Books  purporting  to  be  histories  of  our  late  war  have 
been  published,  with  the  claim  that  they  were  written  with  the 
sanction  and  by  the  authority  of  General  Lee;  and  I  take  this 
occasion  to  state  to  you  that  I  have  it 'from  his  own  lips  that  he 
never  gave  his  sanction  to  any  such  publications.  I  make  this 
statement  because  I  know  that  intelligent  foreigners  have  been 
misled  by  this  claim,  as  they  could  not  understand  how  any 
writer  could  have  the  impudence  to  make  such  pretensions  unless 


REMARKS    OF    GENERAL    EARLY.  39 

they  were  founded  in  truth.  General  Lee  was  not  in  the  habit 
of  correcting  misrepresentations  of  his  words  and  acts  in  the 
public  prints,  as,  conscious  of  his  own  rectitude,  he  was  willing 
to  trust  the  vindication  of  his  character  to  his  country,  his  soldiers 
and  his  God.  His  views  on  this  subject  I  happened  to  learn  from 
a  gentle  rebuke  he  once  gave  me,  when  I  undertook  to  correct  a 
misrepresentation  of  a  correspondent  in  regard  to  myself — an 
offence  I  did  not  repeat  after  that  rebuke.  On  that  occasion  he 
informed  me  that  he  rarely  ever  read  the  papers,  unless  when 
some  staff  officer  brought  them  to  him  and  called  his  attention 
to  something  of  especial  importance. 

As  confirmatory  of  what  was  so  eloquently  said  by  President 
Davis  last  night  in  regard  to  General  Lee's  extended  views  of 
patriotism  and  his  devotion  to  the  whole  South,  and  as  indicative 
of  his  constant  regard  for  and  his  desire  to  do  justice  to  the 
soldiers  who  fought  under  him,  I  will  read  you  some  extracts 
from  two  letters  from  him  to  myself,  and  I  do  this  not  from  any 
feelings  of  egotism,  but  because  I  wish  to  give  you  his  own 
Avords.  I  must  say  to  you  that  just  as  I  was  leaving  the  country 
on  my  voluntary  exile,  I  wrote  him  a  letter,  to  be  sent  as  soon 
as  I  was  beyond  the  reach  of  danger — that  is,  I  reported  to  him 
as  my  commander,  as  I  did  immediately  on  my  return  to  the 
State,  for  I  always  considered  him  as  such  to  the  hour  of  his 
death;  and  now  that  he  is  gone,  I  will  endeavor  to  follow  his 
precepts  and  example,  as  far  as  a  sinful  mortal  can  do.  In 
answer  to  my  letter,  he  wrote  me  the  one  I  now  hold  in  my  hand, 
which  is  dated  at  "Lexington,  November  22d,  1865,"  and  which 
reached  me  at  Nassau,  New  Providence.  From  that  letter  I  read 
you  the  following  extracts,  omitting  what  is  personal  to  myself. 
He  says: 

u  LEXINGTON,  November  22,  18G5. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  health  and  safety, 

but  regret  your  absence  from  the  country,  though  I  fully  under 
stand  your  feelings  on  the  subject.  I  think  the  South  requires 
the  presence  of  all  her  sons  now  more  than  at  any  period  of  her 
history,  and  I  determined  at  the  outset  of  her  difficulties  to 
share  the  fate  of  my  people I  desire,  if  not  pre 
vented,  to  write  a  history  of  the  campaigns  in  Virginia.  All  my 
records,  books,  orders,  &c.,  were  destroyed  in  the  conflagration 
and  retreat  from  Richmond.  Only  such  of  my  reports  as  were 
printed  are  preserved.  Your  reports  of  your  operations  in  1864 
and  1865  are  among  those  destroyed.  Cannot  you  repeat  them 
and  send  me  copies  of  such  letters,  orders,  &c.,  of  mine  (includ 
ing  the  last  letter  to  which  you  refer),  and  particularly  give  me 


4O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

your  recollection  of  our  effective  strength  at  the  principle  battles? 
My  only  object  is  to  transmit,  if  possible,  the  truth  to  posterity, 
and  do  justice  to  our  brave  soldiers." 

When  I  arrived  at  Havana  in  December,  1865,  I  saw  the  re 
ports  of  Secretary  Stanton  and  General  Grant  of  the  military 
operations  of  the  years  1864  and  1865,  containing  many  errors 
of  fact.  Provoked  by  these,  and  also  by  some  newspaper  state 
ments  about  my  having  applied  for  pardon,  I  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  New  York  Ncius,  which  perhaps  some  of  you  saw  and  read. 
It  was  such  a  letter  as  General  Lee  would  not  have  written  him 
self,  because  he  was  a  man  of  unlimited  self-control,  whereas  I 
am  accustomed  to  speak  and  write  just  as  I  feel,  and  sometimes 
I  use  what  some  would  regard  as  strong  language.  That  letter 
was  written  just  in  that  view.  Again,  on  reaching  the  City  of 
Mexico,  I  found  a  Northern  journal,  which  has  long  been  in  the 
habit  of  slandering  our  people,  both  by  its  articles  and  its  illus 
trations,  which  contained  a  very  abusive  article  in  regard  to  Mr. 
Davis,  written  by  one  who  had  held  a  commission  in  the  Con 
federate  army,  and  I  had  also  learned  that  some  who  took  espe 
cial  pains  to  be  out  of  the  country  during  the  war,  though  they 
professed  to  be  very  strong  Confederates  after  the  close,  were  in 
the  habit  of  speaking  very  harshly  of  our  President.  Indignant 
at  all  this,  I  wrote  a  letter  in  vindication  of  him,  in  which  I  took 
especial  care  to  speak  my  sentiments  freely  about  those  who 
were  engaged  in  the  work  of  defaming  that  great  and  good  man, 
who  then  was  suffering  a  cruel  imprisonment  and  persecution  for 
the  cause  in  which  all  of  us  had  been  engaged.  This  letter  was 
first  published  in  the  Mexican  Times  (Governor  Allen's  paper), 
and  afterwards  in  some  of  the  American  papers.  I  make  this 
statement  in  order  that  you  may  understand  the  allusions  in  the 
second  letter  to  me,  which  was  in  answer  to  one  of  mine,  and  is 
dated  the  I5th  of  March,  1866.  In  that  letter  General  Lee  says: 

"  It  will  be  difficult  to  get  the  world  to  understand  the  odds 
against  which  we  fought,  and  the  destruction  and  loss  of  all  of 
the  returns  of  the  army  embarrasses  me  very  much.  I  read 
your  letter  from  Havana  to  the  New  York  Ne^vs  with  much 
interest,  and  was  pleased  with  the  temper  in  which  it  was  written. 
I  have  since  received  the  paper  containing  it  published  in  the 
City  of  Mexico,  and  also  your  letter  in  reference  to  Mr.  Davis. 
I  understand  and  appreciate  the  motive  which  prompted  both 
letters,  and  think  they  will  be  of  service  in  the  way  you  intended. 
I  have  been  much  pained  to  see  the  attempts  made  to  cast  odium 
upon  Mr.  Davis,  but  do  not  think  they  will  be  successful  with 


REMARKS    OF    GENERAL    EARLY.  41 

the  reflecting  or  informed  portion  of  the  country.  The  accusa 
tions  against  myself  I  have  not  thought  proper  to  notice,  or  even 
to  correct  misrepresentations  of  my  words  and  acts.  We  shall 
have  to  be  patient  and  suffer  for  awhile  at  least,  anct  all  contro 
versy,  I  think,  will  only  serve  to  prolong  angry  and  bitter  feel 
ings,  and  postpone  the  time  when  reason  and  charity  may  resume 
their  sway.  At  present  the  public  mind  is  not  prepared  to  re 
ceive  the  truth. 

"I  hope,  in  time,  peace  will  be  restored  to  the 

country,  and  that  the  South  may  enjoy  some  measure  of  pros 
perity.  I  fear,  however,  that  much  suffering  is  still  in  store  for 
her,  and  that  her  people  must  be  prepared  to  exercise  fortitude 
and  forbearance." 

You  must  recollect,  my  friends,  that  these  letters  were  written 
by  a  Virginian  who  had  thought  it  his  duty  to  remain  and  share 
the  fate  of  his  people,  whatever  it  might  be,  to  another  Virginian 
who  had  taken  upon  himself  a  voluntary  exile  which  he  then 
expected  to  be  perpetual.  They  were  written  under  circum 
stances  that  induced  the  supposion  that  they  would  never  meet 
the  eye  of  any  one  but  him  to  whom  they  were  written.  You 
will  see  that  General  Lee,  though  he  was  a  Virginian  in  every 
proper  sense  of  the  term,  did  not  confine  his  patriotism  and  his 
affections  to  his  native  State,  but  embraced  the  whole  South,  and 
claimed  her  people  as  his  people — and  what  a  glorious  privilege 
it  was  to  be  a  part  of  his  people!  You  will  also  perceive  his 
great  anxiety  to  do  justice  to  the  soldiers  who  fought  under  him, 
and  for  whom  he  cherished  a  paternal  affection  as  long  as  he 
lived.  The  history  which  he  wfis  prevented  from  writing  must 
be  written  by  some  one  competent  to  the  task,  and  the  world 
must  be  made  to  know  that  Confederate  soldiers  are  not  ashamed 
of  the  great  struggle  they  made  for  constitutional  liberty,  and 
regret  nothing,  in  that  respect,  except  that  they  failed  to  accom 
plish  their  great  purpose.  The  materials  for  that  history  must 
be  furnished  by  those  who  participated  in  the  struggle  and  were 
in  a  condition  to  know  and  understand  the  facts,  and  that  will  be 
one  of  the  prime  objects  of  the  Association  which  it  is  now  pro 
posed  to  form. 

On  motion  of  General  Trimble,  of  Maryland,  the  following 
Committee  on  Permanent  Organization  was  appointed: 

Major-General  T.  H.  TRIMBLE.  Colonel  WALTER  H.  TAYLOR. 

Colonel  R.  T.  PRESTON.  Private  A.  WARWICK. 

Major-General  C.  W.  FIELD.  Private  E.  S.  GREGORY. 

Major-General  JOHN  B.  GORDON.  Captain  J.  II.  CHAMBEELAYNE. 

Brig.-Gfneral  GEORGE  H.  STEUART.  Captain  MANN  PAGE. 


42  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

The  Committee,  after  a  brief  absence,  recommended  the  fol 
lowing  Permanent  Organization,  and  the  report  was  unanimously 
adopted : 

President — Lieutenant-General  JUBAL  A.  EARLY. 

Vice-Preside  tits — 

Major-General  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT.   Major-General  WILLIAM  SMITH. 
Major-General  EDWARD  JOHNSON.     Colonel  WOODRIDGE. 

Major-General  DABNEY  II.  MAURY.    Private SPENCER,  Jr. 

Private  GEORGE  E.  HARRISON.  Lieutenant  W.  W.  ROBINSON. 

Lieutenant  A.  C.  TRIGG.  Private  LESLIE  SPENCE. 

Colonel  WILLIAM  WHITE. 

Secretaries — 

Captain  J.  II.  CHAMBERLAYNE.          Major  R.  W.  HUNTER. 
Private  E.  S.  GREGORY. 

On  motion  of  General  Bradley  T.  Johnson,  the  following 
Committee  was  appointed  to  report  a  plan  for  the  organization 
of  the  Association  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia: 

Brig.-Gen.  BRADLEY  T.  JOHNSON.  Private  JERVIS  SPENCER. 

Brig.-General  WM.  N.  PENDLETON.  Colonel  HENRY  E.  PEYTON. 

Colonel  E.  J.  HARVIE.  Captain  J.  MC!!ENRY  HOWARD. 

Major  WILLIAM  S.  BASSINGER.  Private  JAMES  TILLMAN. 

Brigadier-General  SETH  BARTON.  Private  O.  G.  KEAN. 

Major-General  EDWARD  JOHNSON.  Major  JED  HOTCHKISS. 

Major-General  FITZHUGH  LEE.  Major  A.  W.  GARBER. 

Sergeant  WALTER  BLAIR.  Brigadier-General  J.  H.  LANE. 

Brigadier-General  M.  D.  CORSE.  Major-General  JOHN  B.  GORDON. 

Colonel  R.  SNOWDEN  ANDREWS.  Lieutenant  F.  C.  SLINGLUFF. 

The  Committee  made  the  following  report: 

/.  Resolved,  That  this  meeting  will  at  once  adopt  a  plan  of 
organization  for  an  Association  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  request  that  similar  organiza 
tions  be  formed  by  the  officers  and  men  of  all  the  armies,  and  by 
the  navy  of  the  Confederate  States,  in  order  that  the  friendships 
formed  may  be  perpetuated,  and  that  the  memory  of  the  deeds 
achieved  by  the  Confederate  arms,  on  land  and  sea,  may  be  pre 
served  and  the  truth  of  history  vindicated,  and  justice  done  to 
the  living  and  the  dead. 

The  meeting  then  adopted  a  plan  of  organization  for  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  Association,  and  elected  (or  appointed 
through  the  Chair)  the  following  officers : 


43 


OFFICERS. 

»  President. 

Lieutenant-GeneralJUBAL  A.  EARLY. 

Corresponding  Secretary. 
Colonel  WALTER  II.  TAYLOR. 

Recording  Secretary. 
Colonel  CHARLES  S.   VENABLE. 

Treasurer, 
Colonel  CHARLES    MARSHALL. 

Executive  Committee. 

Brigadier-General  BRADLEY  T.  JOHNSON,  Chairman. 
Colonel  ROBERT  E.  WITHERS.     Brigadier-General  JAM  re  II.  LANE. 
Colonel  JOHN  S.  MOSBY.  ('apt.  -L  HAM   CIIAMBERLAYNE. 

Colonel  THOMAS  H.  CARTER.     Segeant  J.  VANLEW  McCREERY. 
Major  ROBERT  STILKS.  Captain  MANN  PAGE. 

Brigadier-General  \V.  II.  PAYNE. 

Vice-Presidents  and  Assistants  appointed  bv  tJie  President. 

Maryland— -Major-General  I.  R.  TRIMBLE,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  GEO.  II.  STEUART,  )  .  . 
Colonel  R.  SNOWDEX  ANDREWS,  j  A 

Virginia — Major-General  FIT/HUGH  LEE,  Vice-President. 

Brigadier-General  \\'M.  B.  TALIAFERRO,  )  Assistants  in  East- 
Brigadier-General  JAMES  L.  KEMPER,     /       ern  Virginia. 

Brigadier-General  JOHN  McCAUSLAND,  )  Assistants  in  West- 
Colonel  JOHN  S.  HOFFMAN,  /       ern  Virginia. 

Kentucky — Major-General  JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  BASIL  DUKE,       ")    .  , ... 
Colonel  J.  STODDARD  JOHNSTON,  / 

Tennessee — Lieutenant-General  R.  S.  EWELL,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  VAUGHAN,  \ 

The  senior  surviving  officer  of  the  Tennessee  reg-  j-  Assistants, 
iinents  in  ARCHER'S  old  brigade,  J 

1ST.  Carolina— Major-General  D.  II.  HILL,  Vice-President. 
Major-General  R.  F.   HOKE,  )    .     .  , 
Brigadier-General  SCALES,     j  A 

S.  Carolina — Lieutenant-General  ^V7AD^:  HAMPTON,  Vice-President. 
Major-General  J.   B.   KERSHAW,  \  A     . 
Brigadier-General  McGoWAN,       J 

Georgia— Major-General  JOHN  B.  GORDON,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  A.   H.  WRIGHT,)  A     .  , 
Brigadier-General  BENNING,  J 

Alabama — Brigadier-General  BATTLE,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  FORNEY,  \ 
Colonel  E.  A.  O'NEAL,        / 

Mississippi— Lieutenant-General  S.  D.  LEE,  Vice-President. 
Brigadier-General  B.  G.  HUMPHREYS,  )    ...      , 
Brigadier-General  \V.  T.  MARTIN,          /  ASS1 


44  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Louisiana— General  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD,  Vice-President. 
Major-General  DABNEY  H.  MAURY,  \  .  . 
Brigadier-General  \VILLIAM  K.  PECK,  / 

Arkansas— Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  L.  CABELL.  Vice-President. 
The  two  senior  surving  officers  of  the  Arkansas") 
.     regiments  which  were  in  the  Army  of  North-  V  Assistants. 
ern  Virginia,  J 

Texas— Brigadier-General  ROBINSON,  Vice-President. 

The  senior  surviving  officer  of  the  regiments  of ") 

KOBINSON'S  brigade,  L  Assistants. 

Major  WILLIAM  P.  TOWNSEND,  J 

Florida — Brigadier-General  PERRY,  Vice-President. 

The  two  senior  surviving  officers  of  the   regi-  \  A     . 
nients  in  PERRY'S  brigade,  / ASI         irs> 

REMARKS    OF    GENERAL    JOHNSON. 

In  presenting  the  report  of  the  Committee,  General  Johnson 
said: 

Comrades  and  Friends — I  have  been  instructed  to  report  the 
plan  just  read  for  the  organization  of  the  Association  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

That  plan  proposes  a  General  Association,  of  which  General 
Early  is  to  be  President,  with  Secretaries,  Treasurer,  and  an 
Executive  Committee  of  ten,  together  with  a  Vice-President  and 
two  assistants  for  each  State,  who  are  to  be  members  of  the 
General  Association,  and  who  are  charged  with  the  duty  of 
organizing  the  Society  in  the  States  to  which  they  belong.  These 
State  Societies  are  called  Divisions,  and  are  to  have  subordinated 
to  them  sub-societies,  to  be  called  Sections.  The  Sections  report 
to  the  Divisions,  and  the  Divisions  to  the  Association.  The 
duty  of  all  is  to  collect  materials  for  history,  muster  rolls  and  all 
other  information  relative  to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
and  forward  them  to  the  General  Society,  in  whose  archives  they 
will  be  deposited,  in  charge  of  Colonel  Venable,  as  Recording 
Secretary.  Thus  we  will  accumulate  whatever  we  can  of  mate 
rial  for  future  history,  that  the  achievements  of  that  army  may 
be  perpetuated  and  justice  be  done  our  dead  comrades,  ourselves 
and  the  cause  for  which  they  fell. 

We  hope  by  future  meetings  to  preserve  the  friendships 
formed  in  the  service  of  our  country,  and  as  long  as  we  live  to 
show  the  world  and  our  fellow  countrymen  how  proud  we  are 
of  the  part  which  it  has  been  our  good  fortune  to  have  borne  in 
our  great  contest  for  civil  liberty. 

Among  the  greatest  crimes  known  to  civilization  is  the  muti 
lation  of  the  corpses  and  the  desecration  of  the  memories  of  the 


REMARKS    OF    GENERAL    JOHNSON.  45 

dead.  And  yet  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  such  has  been  the 
treatment  which  our  departed  comrades  have  experienced  at  the 
hands  of  our  conquerors. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  armies,  all  our  records 
and  the  archives  of  our  Adjutant-General's  office  were  taken 
possession  of  at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and  they  are  now 
preserved  in  a  special  bureau  at  Washington.  The  evidence  they 
contain  is,  for  us,  invaluable;  and  yet,  within  the  last  few  months, 
Avhen  application  was  made  by  a  gentleman  of  rank  now  before 
me,  for  leave  to  examine  those  records,  in  order  to  get  informa 
tion  for  the  use  of  the  highest  authority  as  to  this  war,  recog 
nized  by  you  and  me,  he  was  informed  that  all  inquiries  would 
be  answered,  but  no  examination  of  them  would  be  allowed  by 
him. 

Thus  the  materials  of  our  history,  the  weapons  of  our  defence, 
and  the  arguments  of  our  complete  and  thorough  vindication  and 
justification,  as  an  army,  are  in  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  who 
refuse  us  access  to  them.  It  behooves  us,  therefore,  diligently  to 
collect  from  our  surviving  comrades  all  such  matter  as  they  have 
on  paper,  or  in  their  recollection,  so  that  we  may  supply  the 
place  of  and  even  more  than  supplement  those  records  so  sedu 
lously  sealed  at  Washington. 

We  propose  to  testify  to  the  world  and  to  history  our  abiding 
faith  and  perfect  confidence  in  the  cause  in  which  we  fought,  as 
the  cause  of  Patriotism  and  Honor,  Justice  and  Right,  and,  above 
all,  that  it  is  the  cause  of  constitutional  and  civil  liberty  on  this 
continent.  We  are  not  of  those  who  believe  that  this  is  a  lost 
cause.  The  race  from  which  we  sprang  have  made  this  contest, 
time  and  again,  in  the  last  thousand  years.  Over  and  over,  our 
ancestors  have  made  the  issue  of  physical  force  in  favor  of  liberty 
against  irresponsible  power.  Many  times  they  have  failed,  as  we 
have  done,  before  the  overwhelming  odds  of  numbers  or  wealth., 
or  organization  or  resources,  arrayed  against  and  pressed  on  them. 
Many  times  they  have  fallen,  crushed,  as  it  seemed,  beneath  the 
enormous  mass  of  power  hurled  on  them.  Thus  it  seemed  when 
the  State  absorbed  all  the  power  of  the  Barons  and  all  the  estates 
of  the  Church,  and  the  liberties  of  the  Commons  of  England 
appeared  lost  forever.  Thus  it  seemed  when  the  Long  Parlia 
ment  rode  triumphant  over  the  heritage  of  British  freedom,  and 
when  the  system  of  Stafford  seemed  to  have  established  the  Star 
Chamber  and  abolished  the  trial  by  jury.  But  these  were  only 
incidents  of  the  struggle,  and  the  freeborn  race  rose  and  re-estab 
lished  their  rights,  regaining  by  arms  what  had  been  bought  by 
blood.  So  we  believe  that  the  issue  of  the  late  struggle  is  but 
temporary.  That  State  rights  are  but  the  incidents  to  preserve 


46  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

public  liberty.  That  all  institutions  staked  and  lost  were  but  the 
means  to  accomplish  our  end,  the  perpetuation  of  oitr  liberties  and 
rights,  inherited  from  our  fathers  centuries  before  the  Puritans 
touched  Plymouth  Rock  or  the  Cavalier  landed  at  Jamestown. 
They  were  but  the  earthworks  which  we  then  defended — great 
and  important  bulwarks  and  defences  to  be  sure — but  when  they 
are  lost  all  is  not  lost. 

The  great  defences  are  still  left.  Trial  by  jury,  free  speech, 
free  press,  a  voice  in  government  and  a  share  in  making  the  laws. 
With  these  weapons  we  shall  regain  our  lost  rights,  we  shall 
recover  our  despoiled  liberties,  making  the  contest  with  the  sure 
and  steady  belief  in  the  certainty  of  success,  and  the  fixed  and 
ready  purpose,  whenever  it  is  necessary  and  unavoidable,  again 
to  vindicate  our  worthiness  of  victory  and  liberty,  as  our  fathers 
have  done  from  Runny  Mede  down  to  Manassas. 

For  awhile,  the  disasters  which  befell  us  clouded  our  vision, 
and  the  dust  of  the  battle  we  mistook  for  the  darkness  of  death. 
But  time  has  enabled  us  to  see  that  though  broken  in  fortune, 
shattered  in  our  civil  constitution,  pressed  beneath  the  yoke  of 
conquest,  the  ancestral  spirit  is  still  burning,  the  ancestral  love 
of  liberty  is  still  unquenchable,  and  with  the  coming  years  our 
ability  to  achieve  our  deliverance  will  be  ever  increasing. 

With  a  firm  faith  in  the  future,  with  a  perfect  belief  in  the 
blood  which  flows  in  our  veins,  we  move  on  with  a  certain  con 
fidence  that  we  or  our  children  will  regain  all  we  have  tempo 
rarily  lost,  and  in  the  meantime  we  teach  them  to  revere,  love 
and  honor  the  memory  of  the  great  men  who  fell  in  defence  of 
the  Starry  Cross,  and  to  cherish  and  maintain  the  cause  in  which 
it  waved  and  for  which  they  fell. 

In  propounding  the  question  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions 
from  the  Committee  on  Organization  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  General  Early  made  the  following  remarks: 

My  Friends — I  will  take  the  liberty  of  saying  a  word  or  two 
to  you  before  taking  the  vote  on  the  proposition  now  before  you. 
There  are  very  many  facts  illustrative  of  the  devotion  of  our 
soldiers,  which,  though  not  proper  to  have  been  introduced  into 
the  formal  official  reports  which  were  made  at  the  time,  ought 
not  to  be  lost  to  history.  Let  it  be  our  care  to  collect  all  these, 
and  put  them  in  a  tangible  form  for  the  use  of  the  future  histo 
rian  who  shall  undertake  to  portray  our  wonderful  struggle. 
The  duty  of  preserving  the  facts  and  putting  them  in  some 
available  form  I  have  constantly  urged  since  the  close  of  the  war. 
This  duty  ought  to  be  performed,  whether  the  parties  wht> 


REMARKS    OF    GENERAL   JOHNSON.  47 

furnish  them  shall  think  proper  to  publish  them  or  not.  In  the 
last  interview  I  had  with  General  Lee,  in  speaking  of  that  last 
hour  of  the  struggle,  when  he  so  reluctantly  surrendered  at  Ap- 
pomattox,  he  informed  me  that  in  fact  there  were  only  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  men  who  were  surrendered  with  arms  in 
their  hands;  and  he  told  me  that  before  going  to  that  interview  which 
resulted  in  the  surrender,  he  gave  orders  to  that  gallant  Georgian, 
who  he  knew  and  I  knew,  and  every  one  who  came  in  contact  with 
him  knew,  never  failed  to  obey  with  alacrity  all  orders  given  to 
him,  and  when  occasion  required  did  not  wait  for  orders — I  mean 
General  John  B.  Gordon,  whom  I  am  happy  to  meet  and  welcome 
here — and  that  other,  whose  name  I  will  not  call  on  this  occasion, 
for  reasons  you  will  perhaps  understand — to  hold  their  com 
mands  in  readiness  to  fight,  with  the  determination  to  cut  his 
way  out  at  all  hazards,  if  such  terms  were  not  granted  as  he  thought 

>  o  o 

his  army  was  entitled  to  demand.  Now,  gentlemen,  of  all  who 
gained  honor  in  the  war,  in  my  opinion,  the  private  soldier  who 
volunteered  in  the  beginning,  without  waiting  for  the  conscript 
officer,  and  after  doing  his  duty  was  found  with  arms  in  hand  at 
Appomattox,  still  ready  to  obey  the  orders  of  his  Commander, 
is  entitled  to  take  rank  with  the  proudest,  and  the  names  of  all 
such  ought  to  preserved  and  transmitted  to  posterity. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted  unanimously  and 
with  great  enthusiasm. 

The  two  meetings  were  attended  by  immense  crowds,  and  it 
was  a  touching  scene  as  these  veterans  of  an  hundred  battles 
gathered  to  honor  their  grand  old  Chieftain  and  take  measures 
to  vindicate  the  cause  for  which  they  fought. 

*•  o 


VIRGINIA    DIVISION 

OF  THE 

ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA  ASSOCIATION. 


On  the  2d  day  of  November,  1871,  the  "Virginia  Division  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  Association"  was  organized  at  a 
meeting  held  in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Delegates,  in  the  State 
Capitol,  at  Richmond.  A  suitable  constitution  and  by-laws  were 
adopted,  and  the  following  officers  elected : 

President — General  FITZHUGH  LEE. 

Vice-Presidents — General  Edward  Johnson,  General  James  A. 
Walker. 

Secretaries — General  James  H.  Lane,  Colonel  Joseph  Mayo,  Jr. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Executive  Committee — General  William  B.  Taliaferro,  General 
William  H.  Payne,  General  D.  S.  Weisiger,  Colonel  F.  W.  M. 
Holliday,  and  Colonel  James  H.  Skinner. 


SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING. 


The  second  annual  meeting  was  held  in  the  State  Capitol,  Rich 
mond,  on  Thursday  evening,  October  3ist,  1872,  when,  in  the 
absence  of  the  orator  elect  (General  John  B.  Gordon,  of  Georgia, 
who  was  detained  by  sickness  in  his  family),  there  were  stirring 
speeches  by  the  President,  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  Colonel  Joseph 
Mayo,  Jr.,  General  J.  A.  Early,  and  General  W.  H.  Payne. 

The  following  officers  for  the  ensuing  year  were  elected: 

President — General  FITZHUGH  LEE. 

Vice-Presidents — General  Edward  Johnson  and  General  J.  A. 
Walker. 

Executive  Committee — General  William  H.  Payne,  Sergeant  J. 
V.  L.  McCreery,  Lieutenant  John  E.  Laughton,  Colonel  Walter 
K.  Martin,  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Carter. 


TIIII1D  ANNUAL  MEETING. 


Thursday  evening,  October  3Oth,  1873,  a  large  crowd  assem 
bled  in  the  State  Capitol  at  Richmond.  After  an  appropriate 
prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  Minnigerode,  General  Fitzhugh  Lee  made 
brief  but  stirring  remarks,  and  appropriately  presented  as  the 
chosen  orator  of  the  occasion,  Colonel  diaries  S.  Vcnablc^  the 
tried  and  trusted  staff-officer  of  General  R.  E.  Lee,  who  was  greeted 
with  enthusiastic  applause,  and  was  frequently  interrupted  with 
applause  as  he  delivered  the  following  address: 

ADDRESS  OE  COLONEL  C.  S.  VEXABLE. 

Comrades  and  Friends — \Yarmly  appreciating  the  kindness  and 
good-will  of  the  Executive  Committee  in  extending  to  me  the 
honor  of  an  invitation  to  address  you  on  this  occasion,  and  recog 
nizing  the  duty  of  every  Confederate  soldier  in  Virginia  to  do 
his  part  in  the  promotion  of  the  objects  of  this  Association,  I  am 
here  in  obedience  to  your  call.  Fellow  soldiers,  we  are  not  here 
to  mourn  over  that  which  we  failed  to  accomplish;  to  indulge  in 
vain  regrets  of  the  past;  to  repine  because,  in  accepting  the  stern 
arbitrament  of  arms,  we  have  lost;  nor  merely  to  make  vain-glo 
rious  boast  of  victories  achieved  and  deeds  of  valor  done.  But 
we  are  met  together  as  citizens  of  Virginia,  as  American  freemen 
(a  title  won  for  us  by  the  valor  and  wisdom  of  our  forefathers), 
with  a  full  sense  of  our  responsibilities  in  the  present  and  in  the 
future  which  lies  before  us,  to  renew  the  friendships  formed  in 
that  time  of  trial  and  of  danger,  when  at  the  call  of  our  grand 
old  Mother  we  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  her  defence.  More 
than  this:  we  are  met  to  preserve  to  Virginia — to  the  South  and 
to  America — the  true  records  of  the  valor,  the  constancy  and 
heroic  fortitude  of  the  men  who  fought  on  field  and  flood  under 
the  banner  of  the  Southern  Cross.  With  this  view,  I  have 
thought  it  not  inappropriate  on  this  occasion  to  give  a  brief  out 
line  of  some  facts  and  incidents  of  the  campaign  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  from  the  Wilderness  to  Petersburg,  which 
may  be  of  some  little  use  as  a  memoir  to  some  future  seeker  after 
historic  truth.  I  am  aware  that  in  this  I  am  in  danger  of  repeat 
ing  much  that  has  been  told  by  different  biographers  and  histo 
rians;  but  my  desire  is  to  give  correctly  some  incidents  of  which 


5<D  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

I  was  an  eye-witness  in  that  wonderful  campaign,  and  to  state  in 
brief  outline  some  facts — accurate  contemporary  knowledge  of 
which  I  had  the  opportunity  of  obtaining — and  to  present  these  in 
their  proper  connection  with  the  statements  of  high  Federal  autho 
rities.  These  incidents  will  enable  us,  in  some  measure,  to  appre 
ciate  that  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  duty  which  characterized 
our  great  leader,  and  will  serve  to  show  how  worthy  the  men  of 
that  army,  which  he  loved  so  well,  were  of  his  confidence  and 
leadership.  And  here  let  me  say  that  no  man  but  a  craven, 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  American  freeman,  whether  he  fought 
with  us  or  against  us — whether  his  birthplace  be  in  the  States  of  the 
South  or  in  the  States  of  the  North — would  desire  to  obliterate  a 
single  page  or  erase  a  single  line  of  the  fair  record  of  their  glo 
rious  deeds. 

When  General  Lee  set  out  from  Orange  Courthouse  on  the 
.morning  of  the  fourth  of  May  to  meet  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
which  moved  at  midnight  of  the  third  of  May  from  Cul- 
peper,  he  took  with  him  Swell's  corps  (diminished  by  General 
Robert  Johnston's  North  Carolina  brigade,  then  at  Hanover  Court 
house,  and  Hoke's  North  Carolina  brigade  of  Early's  division, 
which  was  in  North  Carolina)  and  Heth's  and  Wilcox's  divisions 
of  A.  P.  Hill's  corps,  leaving  Anderson's  division  of  Hill's  corps 
on  the  Rapidan  heights,  with  orders  to  follow  the  next  day,  and 
ordering  Longstreet  to  follow  on  with  his  two  divisions  (Kershaw's 
and  Field's)  from  Gordonsville.  So,  on  May  5th,  General  Lee 
had  less  than  twenty-six  thousand  infantry  in  hand.  He  resolved 
to  throw  his  heads  of  columns  on  the  Old  turnpike  road  and  the 
Plank  road,  and  his  cavalry  on  the  Catharpin  road  on  his  right, 
against  General  Grant's  troops,  then  marching  through  the  Wil 
derness  to  turn  our  position  at  Orange  Courthouse.  This  was 
a  movement  of  startling  boldness  when  we  consider  the  tremen 
dous  odds.  General  Grant's  forces  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam 
paign  have  been  given  as  more  than  one  hundred  and  forty  thous 
and  of  all  arms,  or  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  in 
fantry,  and  all  of  these,  except  Burnside's  corps  of  twenty  thous 
and,  were  across  the  river  with  him  on  the  5th.  General  Lee 
had  less  than  fifty-two  thousand  men  of  all  arms,  or  forty-two 
thousand  infantry — fifteen  thousand  of  which,  under  Longstreet 
and  Anderson,  a  day's  march  from  him,  and  the  two  North  Caro 
lina  brigades,  under  Johnston  and  Hoke,  which  reached  him,  the 
one  on  the  6th  of  May,  and  the  other  on  the  2ist  of  May — at 
Spotsylvania  Courthouse.  And  here  in  the  beginning  was  re 
vealed  one  great  point  in  General  Lee's  bold  strategy,  and  that 
was  his  profound  confidence  in  the  steady  valor  of  his  troops, 
and  in  their  ability  to  maintain  themselves  successfully  against 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.  51 

very  heavy  odds — a  confidence  justified  by  his  past  experience 
and  by  the  results  of  this  campaign.  He  himself  rode  with  Gen 
eral  A.  P.  Hill  at  the  head  of  his  column.  The  advance  of  the 
enemy  was  met  at  Parker's  store  and  soon  brushed  away,  and  the 
march  continued  to  the  Wilderness.  Here  Hill's  troops  came 
in  contact  with  the  enemy's  infantry  and  the  fight  began.  This 
battle  on  the  Plank  road  was  fought  immediately  under  the  eye 
of  the  Commanding-General.  The  troops,  inspired  by  his  presence, 
maintained  the  unequal  fight  with  great  courage  and  steadiness. 
Once  only  there  was  some  wavering,  which  was  immediately 
checked.  The  odds  were  very  heavy  against  these  two  divisions 
(Heth's  and  Wilcox's),  which  were  together  about  ten  thousand 
strong.  The  battle  first  began  with  Getty's  Federal  division, 
which  was  soon  reinforced  by  the  Second  corps,  under  General  Han 
cock.  Hancock  had  orders,  with  his  corps  and  Getty's  division 
of  the  Sixth  corps,  to  drive  Hill  back  to  Parker's  store.  This  he 
tried  to  accomplish,  but  his  repeated  and  desperate  assaults  were 
repulsed.  Before  night  Wadsworth's  division  and  a  brigade  from 
Warren's  corps  were  sent  to  help  Hancock,  thus  making  a  force 
of  more  than  forty  thousand  men,  which  was  hurled  at  these 
devoted  ten  thousand  until  8  o'clock  P.  M.  in  unavailing  efforts  to 
drive  them  from  their  position. 

Ewell's  corps,  less  than  sixteen  thousand  strong,  had  repulsed 
Warren's  corps  on  the  Old  turnpike,  inflicting  a  loss  of  three 
thousand  men  or  more,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  Rosser,  on  our 
right,  with  his  cavalry  brigade,  had  driven  back  largely  superior 
numbers  of  Wilson's  cavalry  division  on  the  Catharpin  road. 
These  initial  operations  turned  Grant's  forces  from  the  wide 
sweeping  march  which  they  had  begun,  to  immediate  and  ur 
gent  business  in  the  Wilderness.  The  army  which  he  had  set 
out  to  destroy  had  come  up  in  the  most  daring  manner  and 
presented  itself  in  his  pathway.  That  General  Lee's  bold  strategy 
was  very  unexpected  to  the  enemy,  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact 
recorded  by  Swinton,  the  Federal  historian,  that  when  the  ad 
vance  of  Warren's  corps  struck  the  head  of  EwelUs  column,  on 
the  morning  of  the  5th,  General  Meade  said  to  those  around 
him,  "They  have  left  a  division  to  fool  us  here,  while  they  con 
centrate  and  prepare  a  position  on  the  North  Anna;  and  what  I 
want  is  to  prevent  these  fellows  from  getting  back  to  Aline  Run." 
Mine  Run  was  to  that  General  doubtless  a  source  of  unpleasant 
reminiscences  of  the  previous  campaign.  General  Lee  soon  sent 
a  message  to  Longstreet  to  make  a  night  march  and  bring  up 
his  two  divisions  at  daybreak  on  the  6th.  He  himself  slept  on 
the  field,  taking  his  headquarters  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the 
line  of  battle  of  the  day.  It  was  his  intention  to  relieve  Hill's 


52  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

two  divisions  with  Longstreet's,  and  throw  them  farther  to  the 
left,  to  fill  up  a  part  of  the  great  unoccupied  interval  between  the 
Plank  road  and  Ewell's  right,  near  the  Old  turnpike,  or  use  them 
on  his  right,  as  the  occasion  might  demand.  It  was  unfortunate 
that  any  of  these  troops  should  have  become  aware  they  were  to 
be  relieved  by  Longstreet.  It  is  certain  that  owing  to  this  im 
pression,  Wilcox's  division,  on  the  right,  was  not  in  condition  to 
receive  Hancock's  attack  at  early  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th,  by  which  they  were  driven  back  in  considerable  confusion. 
In  fact  some  of  the  brigades  of  Wilcox's  division  came  back 
in  disorder,  but  sullenly  and  without  panic,  entirely  across 
the  Plank  road,  where  General  Lee  and  the  gallant  Hill  in  person 
helped  to  rally  them.  The  assertion,  made  by  several  writers, 
that  Hill's  troops  were  driven  back  a  mile  and  a  half,  is  a  most 
serious  mistake.  The  right  of  his  line  was  thrown  back  several 
hundred  yards,  but  a  portion  of  the  troops  still  maintained  their 
position.  The  danger,  however,  was  great,  and  General  Lee  sent 
his  trusted  Adjutant,  Colonel  W.  H.  Taylor,  back  to  Parker's 
store,  to  get  the  trains  ready  for  a  movement  to  the  rear.  He 
sent  an  aid  also  to  hasten  the  march  of  Longstreet's  divisions. 
These  came  the  last  mile  and  a  half  at  a  double  quick,  in  parallel 
columns,  along  the  Plank  road.  General  Longstreet  rode  forward 
with  that  imperturable  coolness  which  always  characterized  him 
in  times  of  perilous  action,  and  began  to  put  them  in  position  on 
the  right  and  left  of  the  road.  His  men  came  to  the  front  of 
disordered  battle  with  a  steadiness  unexampled  even  among  vete 
rans,  and  with  an  elan  which  presaged  restoration  of  our  battle 
and  certain  victory.  When  they  arrived,  the  bullets  of  the  enemy 
on  our  right  flank  had  begun  to  sweep  the  field  in  the  rear  of  the 
artillery  pits  on  the  left  of  the  road,  where  General  Lee  was  giving 
directions  and  assisting  General  Hill  in  rallying  and  reforming 
his  troops.  It  was  here  that  the  incident  of  Lee's  charge  with 
Gregg's  Texas  brigade  occurred.  The  Texans  cheered  lustily  as 
their  line  of  battle,  coming  up  in  splendid  style,  passed  by  Wil 
cox's  disordered  columns,  and  swept  across  our  artillery  pit  and 
its  adjacent  breastwork.  Much  moved  by  the  greeting  of  these 
brave  men  and  their  magnificent  behavior,  General  Lee  spurred 
his  horse  through  an  opening  in  the  trenches  and  followed  close 
on  their  line  as  it  moved  rapidly  forward.  The  men  did  not 
perceive  that  he  was  going  with  them  until  they  had  advanced 
some  distance  in  the  charge;  when  they  did,  there  came  from 
the  entire  line,  as  it  rushed  on,  the  cry,  "Go  back,  General  Lee! 
Go  back!"  Some  historians  like  to  put  this  in  less  homely 
words;  but  the  brave  Texans  did  not  pick  their  phrases.  "We 
won't  go  on  unless  you  go  back!"  A  sergeant  seized  his  bridle 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VENABLE.  53 

rein.  The  gallant  General  Gregg  (who  laid  down  his  life  on  the 
9th  October,  almost  in  General  Lee's  presence,  in  a  desperate 
charge  of  his  brigade  on  the  enemy's  lines  in  the  rear  of  Fort  Har 
rison),  turning  his  horse  towards  General  Lee,  remonstrated  with 
him.  Just  then  I  called  his  attention  to  General  Longstreet,  whom 
he  had  been  seeking,  and  who  sat  on  his  horse  on  a  knoll  to  the 
right  of  the  Texans,  directing  the  attack  of  his  divisions.  He 
yielded  with  evident  reluctance  to  the  entreaties  of  his  men,  and 
rode  up  to  Longstreet's  position.  With  the  first  opportunity  I 
informed  General  Longstreet  of  what  had  just  happened,  and  he, 
with  affectionate  bluntness,  urged  General  Lee  to  go  farther 
back.  I  need  not  say  the  Texans  went  forward  in  their  charge 
and  did  well  their  duty.  They  were  eight  hundred  strong,  and 
lost  half  their  number  killed  and  wounded  on  that  bloody  day. 
The  battle  was  soon  restored,  and  the  enemy  driven  back  to  their 
position  of  the  night  before.  Wilcox's  and  Heth's  divisions 
were  placed  in  line,  a  short  distance  to  the  left  of  the  Plank  road. 
General  Lee's  immediate  presence  had  done  much  to  restore 
confidence  to  these  brave  men  and  to  inspire  the  troops  who 
came  up  with  the  determination  to  win  at  all  hazards.  A  short 
time  afterwards  General  Anderson's  division  arrived  from  Orange 
Courthouse.  The  well-known  flank  attack  was  then  planned  and 
put  into  execution,  by  which  Longstreet  put  in,  from  his  own  and 
Anderson's  divisions,  three  brigades  on  the  right  Hank  of  the 
enemy,  rolled  it  up  in  the  usual  manner,  uncovering  his  own 
front,  thus  completely  defeating  Hancock's  force  and  sending  it 
reeling  back  on  the  Brock  road.  The  story  of  this  and  of 
Longstreet's  unfortunate  wounding  is  familiar  to  all.  His  glori 
ous  success  and  splendid  action  on  the  field  had  challenged  the 
admiration  of  all.  As  an  evidence  of  the  spirit  of  the  men  on 
this  occasion,  tlu  Mississippi  brigade  of  Heth's  division,  com 
manded  by  the  gallant  Colonel  Stone,  though  the  division  was 
placed  further  to  the  left,  out  of  the  heat  of  battle,  preferred 
to  remain  on  the  right,  under  heavy  fire,  and  fought  gallantly 
throughout  the  day  under  Longstreet. 

When  General  Grant  commenced  his  change  of  base  and  turn 
ing  operation  on  the  evening  of  the  /th,  General  Lee,  with  firm 
reliance  on  the  ability  of  a  small  body  of  his  troops  to  hold  heavy 
odds  in  check  until  he  could  bring  assistance,  sent  Anderson,  who 
had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  Longstreet's  two  divisions, 
to  confront  his  columns  at  Spotsylvania  Courthouse.  Stuart,  too, 
threw  his  cavalry  across  Grant's  line  of  march  on  the  Brock  road. 
The  enemy's  cavalry  (division)  failing  to  dislodge  Stuart,  gave  up 
the  accomplishment  of  that  work  to  the  Fifth  corps  (Warren's). 
When  Anderson  arrived  at  Spotsylvania  Courthouse,  he  found 


54  MEMORIAL    VOLL'MK. 

the  cavalry  (Fitz.  Lee's  division),  at  the  Courthouse,  maintaining 
gallantly  an  unequal  fight  with  the  Fifth  corps  and  Torbert's  cav 
alry  division.     Torbert  was  checked  on  his  right,  and  Stuart,  with 
with  the  assistance  of  several  brigades  of  infantry  sent  to  him  by 
Anderson,  soon  created  in  the  enemy  what  Swinton  describes  as 
"an  excited  and  nervous  condition  of  mind  and  a  tendency  to 
stampede" — ascribed  by  him,  however,  to  want  of  rest  and  Wil 
derness  experience.     Stuart  stopped  their  advance,  and  they  fell 
to  entrenching  of  their  own  accord.     The  conduct  and  skill  of 
Stuart  in  this  fight  on  the   8th,  on  which  so  much   depended, 
always  met  the  warm  approval  of  the  Commanding-General,  and 
he  spoke  of  it,  with  grateful  remembrance,  in  the  days  of  March, 
'65,  when  disasters  began  to  crowd  upon  us.     Let  us  lay  this  laurel 
on  the  tomb  of  him  who  so  soon  afterwards  rendered  up  his  life 
leading,  with  heroic  courage,  his  mere  handful  of  wearied  men 
against  Sheridan's  overwhelming  numbers.     That  General  Grant 
did  not  push  tap  other  troops  to  Warren's  assistance  to  enable 
him  to  drive  these  two  divisions  (now  perhaps  not  more  than 
eight  thousand  strong)  from  his  front,  is  attributable  to  the  fact 
that  he  detained  Hancock  (the  nearest  supporting  corps)  to  meet 
an  anticipated  attack  from  General  Lee  on  his  rear.     That  Gene 
ral  Lee  with  his  small  force,  reduced  by  two  days'  heavy  fighting, 
should  check  this  great  body  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thous 
and  infantry  (reduced  by  Wilderness  experience),  and  at  the  same 
time  threaten  its  rear  and  cause  the  Federal  commander  to  send 
to  Washington  for  reinforcements,  is  a  thing  almost  unparalleled 
in  the  history  of  war.     On  General   Lee's  arrival  with   Kwell's 
corps  in  the  afternoon,  after  a  second  repulse  of  the  enemy,  the  line 
of  Spotsylvania  was  taken  up.     That  a  part  of  the  line  was  weak 
on  Rodes'  right  and  General  Edward  Johnson's  salient,  has  often 
been  asserted.     The  reason  for  taking  it  was  that  the  road  in  the 
rear  might  be  left  free  from  missiles  for  the  convenient  use  of  the 
trains. 

The  repulse  of  Hancock's  corps  in  its  attempt  to  threaten  our 
left  and  rear  by  General  Early  with  Heth's  division,  and  the 
terrible  repulses  given  by  Anderson's  corps  (Field's  and  Ker- 
shaw's  divisions)  to  the  repeated  assaults  of  heavy  columns, 
thrown  against  them  from  the  Second  and  Fifth  corps,  and  to  the 
grand  assault  by  both  of  these  corps  simultaneously  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  are  matters  of  record.  The  odds  here  were 
seven  or  eight  thousand  men  against  one-half  the  Federal  in 
fantry.  Nothing  but  the  absolute  steadiness  and  coolness  of  our 
men  could  have  met  and  repelled  these  onslaughts.  Our  men 
would  often  call  out,  "Yonder  they  come,  boys,  with  five  lines  of 
battle!"  and  after  driving  them  back,  would  creep  out  cautiously 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.  55 

and  gather  up  the  muskets  and  cartridges  of  the  dead  braves  who 
had  fallen  nearest  our  line;  so  that  to  meet  subsequent  attacks, 
many  of  the  men  were  provided  each  with  several  loaded  mus 
kets.  This  extemporaneous  substitute  for  breech-loaders  was  not 
to  be  despised  when  we  consider  the  thinness  of  our  troops  in 
the  defences,  the  absence  of  reserves,  the  tremendous  odds  of  the 
Federal  forces,  and  the  remorseless  manner  with  which  their 
corps  commanders  sent  them  into  these  repeated  assaults. 

Indeed,  it  became  pitiful  to  see  the  slaughter  of  these  brave 
men  in  their  unavailing  attacks  and  to  hear  their  groans  as  they 
lay  dying  near  the  Confederate  line.  One  brave  youth,  a  ser 
geant  of  a  New  York  regiment,  who  fell  shot  through  both  knees 
not  far  from  our  breastworks,  was  for  man}'  hours  an  especial 
object  of  sympathy  to  his  foes.  He  was  seeii  making  in  his 
miser\r  vain  efforts  at  self-destruction.  Repeated  attempts  were 
made  by  our  men  to  bring  him  in,  but  the  Federal  sharpshooters 
were  very  active  and  rendered  it  impossible  to  get  to  him,  and  on 
the  i  ith  May,  when  the  Federal  forces  had  withdrawn  from  that 
part  of  our  line,  there,  amidst  the  blackened,  swollen  corpses  of 
the  assailants,  whose  sufferings  had  been  more  brief,  lay  this  boy 
with  the  fresh,  fair  face  of  one  just  dead. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  iQth  a  portion  of  the  Sixth  corps 
(General  Sedgwick's)  succeeded  in  piercing  Rodes'  line  on  the 
front,  occupied  by  Dole's  Georgia  brigade.  General  Lee  had  his 
quarters  for  the  clay  on  a  knoll  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
in  the  rear  of  this  part  of  the  lines  and  in  full  view  of  it.  He  at 
once  sent  an  aid-de-camp  to  General  Fdward  Johnson,  on  Rodes' 
right,  and  mounting  his  horse,  assisted  in  rallying  the  troops  and 
forming  them  for  the  recapture  of  the  lines.  Under  his  eye, 
Rodes'  troops  and  Gordon's  brigade,  which  had  been  brought  up 
from  the  left,  went  forward  in  handsome  style,  recovering  the 
lines  and  the  batter}',  which,  after  doing  much  execution  at  short 
range,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  attacking  force. 

Swinton,  blindly  followed  by  several  other  writers,  speaks  here 
of  the  capture  of  nine  hundred  prisoners  from  Rodes.  This  is 
an  entire  mistake — the  captured  were  very  few.  On  the  I  ith 
General  Grant  withdrew  from  our  left,  and  General  Lee  became 
convinced  that  he  was  going  to  swing  round  to  turn  our  right; 
he,  therefore,  ordered  the  artillery  on  a  portion  of  our  left  to  be 
withdrawn  from  the  immediate  front  so  as  to  be  ready  to  move 
at  a  moment's  notice.  On  that  night  General  Johnson,  hearing 
the  enemy  massing  on  his  front,  sent  a  message  to  his  corps  com 
mander  (General  Fwell)  asking  the  return  of  his  artillery.  He 
also  sent  to  General  Gordon,  commanding  Farly's  division,  asking 
a  reinforcement  of  two  brigades  (Hays'  and  Pegram's),  which  he 


56  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

placed  in  a  second  line  on  the  rear  of  what  he  considered  the 
weakest  of  his  defences. 

The  delay  of  the  artillery  and  consequent  disaster  to  Johnson's 
division  are  matters  of  record.  The  actual  loss  in  captures  was 
about  three  thousand  men  (his  division  was  four  thousand  strong 
at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign)  and  eighteen  pieces  of  artillery, 
which  the  enemy  did  not  get,  however,  for  twenty  hours.  Johnson's 
message  to  his  corps  commander  about  the  massing  of  the  enemy 
in  his  front  did  not  reach  General  Lee.  He  usually,  in  these 
days  at  Spotsylvania,  left  the  battlefield  at  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening  for  his  tent,  a  short  distance  in  the  rear.  Rising  at 
3  A.M.  and  breakfasting  by  candle  light,  he  returned  to  the  front. 
On  the  morning  of  the  I2th,  hearing  the  firing,  he  rode  rapidly 
forward,  but  did  not  know  of  the  disaster  to  Johnson's  division 
until  he  reached  the  front.  Before  he  arrived,  Brigadier-General 
Gordon,  commanding  Early's  division,  in  obedience  to  orders 
previously  given  by  General  Lee  to  support  any  portion  of  the 
line  about  the  salient  which  might  be  attacked,  hearing  the  firing 
about  daylight,  had  moved  forward  towards  the  salient  with  his 
division.  Moving  in  column  in  the  dim  light,  with  General 
Robert  Johnston's  North  Carolina  brigade  in  front,  he  came  in 
contact  with  Hancock's  line  advancing  through  the  woods,  it  having 
overrun  General  Edward  Johnson's  division,  capturing  his  lines 
and  a  large  number  of  his  men.  The  enemy's  line  thus  moving 
on  stretched  across  our  works  on  both  their -flanks,  thus  taking 
our  men  in  the  trenches  on  both  sides  the  captured  angle  com 
pletely  in  flank.  They  fired  on  Gordon's  advancing  column, 
severely  wounding  General  Robert  Johnston  and  causing  some 
confusion  among  the  men.  It  was  still  not  light — the  woods 
dense,  and  the  morning  rainy.  A  line  of  troops  could  not  be 
seen  a  hundred  yards  off.  It  was  a  critical  moment.  Gordon 
halted  his  column,  and  with  that  splendid  audacity  which  charac 
terized  him,  deployed  a  brigade  as  skirmishers — extending,  as  he 
supposed,  across  the  whole  Federal  front — and  ordered  a  charge 
by  this  line  of  skirmishers.  This  charge  caused  that  part  of  the 
Federal  troops  whose  front  they  covered  to  hesitate  long  enough 
to  enable  him  to  get  his  troops  into  line;  but  the  Federal  line  on 
Gordon's  right  still  pressed  on,  threatening  his  right-rear  and  the 
right  flank  of  Hill's  corps  (commanded  by  General  Early)  in  the 
trenches.  They  were  here  checked  by  General  Lane's  North 
Carolina  brigade,  who,  throwing  his  left  flank  back  from  the 
trenches,  confronted  their  advance. 

Gordon  soon  arranged  the  left  of  his  division  to  make  an  effort 
to  recapture  the  lines  by  driving  the  enemy  back  with  his  right. 
As  he  was  about  to  move  forward  with  his  Georgia  and  Virginia 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.  57 

brigades  in  the  charge,  General  Lee,  who  had  reached  the  front 
a  few  minutes  before,  rode  up  and  joined  him.  Seeing  that  Lee 
was  about  to  ride  with  him  in  the  charge,  the  scene  of  the  6th  of 
May  was  repeated.  Gordon  pointed  to  his  Georgians  and  Vir 
ginians,  who  had  never  failed  him,  and  urged  him  to  go  to  the 
rear.  This  incident  has  passed  into  history,  and  I  will  not  repeat 
the  details  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  Lee  yielded  to  his  brave 
men,  accepting  their  promise  to  drive  the  enemy  back.  Gordon, 
carrying  the  colors,  led  them  forward  in  a  headlong,  resistless 
charge,  which  carried  every  thing  before  it,  recapturing  the 
trenches  on  the  right  of  the  salient,  and  a  portion  of  those  on  the 
left,  recovering  some  of  the  lost  guns  and  leaving  the  rest  of 
them  on  disputed  ground  between  our  troops  and  the  portion  of 
the  line  still  held  by  the  enemy.  As  Hancock's  left  and  centre 
were  thus  checked  by  Gordon's  audacious  line  of  skirmishers 
and  Lane's  disposition  of  his  brigade  on  Hill's  left,  and  finally 
hurled  back  by  this  splended  charge  of  Gordon's  brigades,  so  his 
right  was  met  by  Ramseur's  North  Carolina  brigade,  of  General 
Rodes'  division,  who  attacked  and  pressed  it  steadily  back  towards 
the  angle.  Rodes  bringing  up  the  rest  of  his  division  to  Ram 
seur's  assistance,  Hancock  \vas  thrown  completely  back  on  that 
portion  of  the  captured  line  to  the  left  of  the  salient,  and  here,  in 
this  narrow  space,  was  waged  the  tremendous  combat  throughout 
the  entire  da}'.  In  the  space  between  the  contending  lines  lay 
fourteen  of  the  eighteen  pieces  of  artillery,  swept  over  by  the  Fed 
erals  as  they  leaped  into  the  salient  in  the  early  morning,  before  they 
were  even  unlimbered — neither  party  being  able  to  take  posession 
of  them.  What  was  left  of  Johnson's  division  had  been  im 
mediately  attached  to  Gordon's  command,  and  at  an  early  hour 
a  portion  of  Gordon's  men  were  set  to  work  to  make  a  strong 
entrenched  line,  about  three  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the  cap 
tured  salient,  in  order  thus  to  render  its  occupation  of  no  advan 
tage  to  the  foe. 

The  Sixth  corps  was  sent  by  General  Grant  about  6  A.  M.  to 
reinforce  Hancock,  and  somewhat  later  he  sent  two  divisions  of 
Warren's  corps.  General  Lee  sent  to  the  assistance  of  General 
Rodes,  on  whose  front  the  confined  battle  raged,  three  brigades 
during  the  clay — McGowan's  South  Carolina  brigade,  Perrin's 
Alabama  brigade  and  Harris'  brigade  of  Mississippians.  Now, 
Rodes'  division  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  was  about  six 
thousand  five  hundred  muskets,  and  it  had  already  done  some 
heavy  fighting  in  the  Wilderness  and  on  the  Spotsylvania  lines. 
The  brigades  sent  to  his  assistance  did  not  number  twenty-five 
hundred  men.  So  that  Rodes,  with  less  than  ten  thousand  men, 
kept  back  for  eighteen  hours  more  than  one-half  of  General 
5 


58  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Grant's  infantry,  supported  by  a  heavy  fire  of  Federal  artillery. 
There  was  one  continuous  roll  of  musketry  from  dawn  till  mid 
night.  The  Spotsylvania  tree  cut  down  by  bullets  was  a  proof, 
not  only  of  the  closeness  of  the  contestants,  but  of  the  narrow 
space  to  which  the  battle  was  confined.  During  the  day  there 
was  a  second  repetition  of  the  occurrence  of  the  6th  May.  Gene 
ral  Lee  had  his  position  nearly  all  day  near  a  point  on  Heth's 
line  to  the  left  of  Spotsylvania  Courthouse.  Rodes  sent  to  him 
asking  for  reinforcements.  He  sent  me  to  the  right  of  the  line 
to  guide  Harris'  brigade  of  Mississippians  from  the  right  of  our 
line  down  to  Rodes.  The  brigade,  in  coming  across  from  the 
right,  passed  near  General  Lee's  position.  He  rode  out  from  a 
little  copse  alone  and  placed  himself  by  General  Harris'  side  at 
the  head  of  his  column.  Soon  the  troops  came  under  the  artillery 
fire  of  the  enemy.  General  Lee's  horse  reared  under  the  fire, 
and  a  round  shot  passed  under  him  very  near  the  rider's  stirrup. 
The  men  halted  and  shouted  to  him  to  go  back,  and,  in  fact, 
refused  to  move  if  he  marched  with  them.  He  told  them  he 
would  go  back  if  they  would  only  promise  him  to  retake 
the  lines.  The  men  shouted,  in  response,  "We  will!  We 
will,  General  Lee!"  He  then  repeated  the  order  to  me  to 
guide  them  down  to  General  Rodes,  and  rode  slowly  away 
towards  Heth's  lines.  The  Mississippians  marched  on  with 
steady  step  to  the  front — "  Into  the  mouth  of  hell,  marched  the 
eight  hundred;"  theirs  but  to  do  and  die,  for  they  had  promised 
Lee.  They  cheered  lustily  the  gallant  Rodes,  as  they  passed 
into  the  deadly  fray.  Coming  in  at  a  time  when  Ramseur  was 
heavily  pressed,  the  day  was  saved.  This  was  the  last  reinforce 
ment  sent  in.  The  lines  were  not  retaken,  but  the  enemy  was 
pressed  back  into  the  narrow  angle  and  held  there  on  the  defen 
sive  until  midnight.  The  homely  simplicity  of  General  Lee  in 
these  scenes  of  the  6th  and  I2th  of  May,  is  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  theatrical  tone  of  the  famous  order  of  Napoleon  at 
Austerlitz,  in  which  he  said:  "Soldiers,  I  will  keep  myself  at  a 
distance  from  the  fire,  if  with  your  accustomed  valor  you  carry 
disorder  and  confusion  into  the  enemy's  ranks;  but  if  victory 
appear  uncertain,  you  will  see  your  Emperor  expose  himself  in 
the  front  of  battle."  It  is  the  contrast  of  the  simple  devotion  to 
duty  of  the  Christian  patriot,  thoughtless  of  self,  fighting 
for  all  that  men  held  dear,  with  the  selfish  spirit  of  the  soldier  of 
fortune,  "  himself  the  only  god  of  his  idolatry." 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  giving  this  incident,  because  it 
has  been  by  various  writers  of  the  life  of  Lee  confounded  with 
the  other  two  incidents  of  a  like  character  which  I  have  before 
given.  In  fact,  to  our  great  Commander,  "so  low  in  his  opinion 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.  59 

of  himself  and  so  sublime  in  all  his  actions,"  these  were  matters 
of  small  moment;  and  when  written  to  by  a  friend  in  Maryland 
(Judge  Mason),  after  the  war,  as  to  whether  such  an  incident 
ever  occurred,  replied,  briefly,  "Yes;  General  Gordon  was  the 
General" — alluding  thus  concisely  to  the  incident  of  the  early 
morning  of  the  I2th,  when  General  Gordon  led  the  charge,  pass 
ing  over  the  similar  occurrences  entirely,  in  his  characteristic 
manner  of  never  speaking  of  himself  when  he  could  help  it. 
But  that  which  was  a  small  matter  to  him  was  a  great  one  to  the 
men  whom  he  thus  led. 

At  nightfall  our  line  of  battle  still  covered  four  of  the  eighteen 
contested  guns.  The  interior  line  was  finished  later,  and  our 
wearied  heroes  were  withdrawn  to  it  about  midnight.  Unfortu 
nately,  the  four  recaptured  pieces,  through  the  darkness  of  the 
night  and  difficulty  of  the  ground,  became  bogged  in  a  swamp 
while  being  brought  off,  and  so  were  left  outside  of  the  new  lines 
and  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

During  the  clay,  the  enemy,  under  the  impixs.-.ion  that  General 
Lee  had  weakened  his  lines  to  reinforce  our  troops  in  Hancock's 
front,  made  an  attack,  which  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss  to  the 
attacking  column.  The  repulse  of  this  attack  of  Burnside  on 
Wilcox's  front,  the  splendid  execution  done  by  the  artillery  of 
Heth's  line  on  the  flank  of  the  attacking  part}',  and  the  counter 
attacks  by  brigades  of  Hill's  corps,  sent  out  in  front  of  our  lines 
during  the  day,  have  been  recorded  by  the  graphic  pen  of  Gene 
ral  Early,  who  had  been  assigned  to  the  command  on  account  of 
General  Hill's  sickness  on  the  /th  of  May.*  The  restoration  of 
the  battle  on  the  1 2th,  thus  rendering  utterly  futile  the  success 
achieved  by  Hancock's  corps  at  daybreak,  was  a  wonderful  feat 
of  arms,  in  which  all  the  troops  en-gaged  deserve  the  greatest 
credit  for  endurance,  constancy  and  unflinching  courage;  but 
without  unjust  discrimination,  we  may  say  that  Gordon,  Rodes 
and  Ramseur  were  the  heroes  of  this  blood}'  day.  General  Lee 
recommended  Gordon  to  be  made  Major-General  of  date  I2th 
May.  Rodes  and  Ramseur  were  destined  alas!  in  a  few  short 
months,  to  lay  down  their  noble  lives  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 
There  was  no  victor's  chaplet  more  highly  prized  by  the  Roman 
soldier  than  that  woven  of  the  grass  of  early  spring.  Then  let 
the  earliest  flowers  of  May  always  be  intertwined  in  the  garlands 
which  the  pious  hands  of  our  fair  women  shall  lay  on  the  tombs 
of  Rodes  and  Ramseur  and  of  the  gallant  dead  of  the  battle  of 
twenty  hours  at  Spotsylvania.f 

*  General  Hill,  thoiurh  unable  TO  sit  up,  in  these  days  of  Spotsylvariia,  would  have  himself 
drawn  up  in  his  ambulance  immediately  in  rear  of  the  Lues,  'such  was  his  a.ixiety  to  be 
near  his  troops. 

tThe  question  has  been  ask^d  since  the  war  why  General  Lee  sent  no  telegram  to  Rich 
mond  concerning  this  battle  of  May  12th.  He  did  send  such  a  telegram  to  the  War  Depart 
ment.  Of  its  further  history  I  know  nothing. 


6O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

The  captured  angle,  now  useless  to  the  enemy,  was  abandoned 
by  them  on  the  I4th.  The  attacks  made  on  our  lines  by  General 
Grant  on  the  I4th  and  i8th  were  very  easily  repulsed.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  iQth,  General  Lee  sent  Ewell  with  his  corps  to 
the  north  side  of  the  narrow  Ni  river  to  attack  the  Federal  trains 
and  threaten  Grant's  line  of  communication  with  Fredericksburg. 
After  Ewell  crossed  and  was  already  engaged  with  Tyler's  divi 
sion  of  the  enemy,  guarding  the  trains,  General  Lee  became 
aware  for  the  first  time  that  on  account  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
way  through  the  flats  on  the  river,  he  had  not  taken  his  artillery 
with  him.  He  was  rendered  uneasy  by  this,  and  sent  orders  to 
General  Early  to  extend  his  left  so  as  to  close  up,  as  far  as  prac 
ticable,  the  gap  between  his  corps  and  General  Ewell's.  Fortu 
nately,  General  Hampton,  who  accompanied  Ewell  with  his  cav 
alry  brigade,  carried  with  him  a  battery  of  horse  artillery,  and 
did  good  service  in  relieving  the  difficulties  of  General  Ewell's 
situation.  In  this  movement  some  execution  was  done  on  some 
of  Grant's  newly  arrived  reinforcements  before  they  were  rein 
forced  by  troops  from  the  Second  and  Fifth  corps.  General 
Ewell  withdrew  to  the  south  side  of  the  Ni  without  much  loss. 
This  affair  delayed  the  contemplated  turning  movement  of  the 
Federal  army  for  twenty-four  hours. 

On  the  night  of  the  2Oth  of  May,  having  discovered,  after 
twelve  days  of  hopeless  effort,  that  Lee's  position  could  not  be 
carried,  General  Grant  began  his  movement  to  the  North  Anna. 

General  Lee  had  received  no  reinforcements  since  the  begin 
ning  of  the  campaign,  except  the  two  absent  brigades  of  Ewell's 
corps,  mentioned  before.  He  telegraphed  to  General  Breckin- 
ridge,  after  the  victory  of  the  latter  over  Siegel  at  New  Market 
on  May  i6th,  to  come  to  him  with  his  division,  and  Pickett's 
division  was  moving  to  him  from  North  Carolina  and  Petersburg. 

Grant  left  his  dead  unburied  in  large  numbers  both  at  the  Wilder 
ness  and  Spotsylvania  Courthouse,  and  many  thousand  muskets 
scattered  through  the  woods.  The  Confederates  being  in  pos 
session  of  these  battlefields,  the  Ordnance  officers  were  instructed 
to  collect  the  materials  of  war  left  thereon.  Among  other  tilings, 
they  obtained  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand 
pounds  of  lead  in  bullets,  which  were  recast  in  Richmond  and 
fired  again  at  the  enemy  before  the  close  of  the  campaign. 

The  head  of  Pickett's  division  reached  the  army  as  we  began 
the  march  to  the  Northanna,  and  Breckinridge's  division  from 
the  Valley,  about  two  thousand  seven  hundred  strong,  was  added 
to  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  at  Hanover  junction  on  the 
24th  of  May. 

When   General   Grant's   troops,  on  the  morning  of  May  23d, 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.    f  6l 

reached  the  north  bank  of  the  North  Anna,  he  found  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  in  position  on  the  south  side.  Not  much 
force  was  wasted  in  preventing  the  crossing  of  the  Federal  forces. 
Warren's  corps  crossed  on  our  left  at  Jericho  ford,  without  oppo 
sition,  and  Hancock  soon  overcame  the  few  men  left  in  the  old 
earthworks  at  the  bridge.  Once  on  the  south  side  it  was  another 
matter.  General  Grant  found  General  Lee's  centre  near  the 
river;  his  right  reposed  on  the  swamps  and  his  left  thrown  back 
obliquely  towards  the  Little  river  behind  him.  He  discovered, 
at  a  heavy  cost  of  life,  that  in  this  position  he  could  make  no  pro 
gress  in  attempting  to  force  it.  In  fact  one  onslaught  on  our 
right  was  repulsed  by  merely  doubling  the  line  of  skirmishers  in 
front  of  the  division  (Rodes')  attacked.  The  Federal  com 
mander  says,  in  his  report:  "Finding  the  enemy's  position  on 
the  North  Anna  stronger  than  either  of  his  previous  ones,  I  with 
drew  on  the  night  of  the  26th  to  the  north  bank  of  the  North 
Anna."  Says  the  chronicler  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac:  "The 
annals  of  war  seldom  present  a  more  effective  checkmate  than 
was  thus  given  by  Lee." 

But  it  would  be  a  mistake,  in   estimating   General    Lee   as   a 

o 

soldier,  to  assume  that  it  was  his  rule  to  permit  General  Grant  to 
move  around  his  Hank  at  will,  and  then  to  content  himself  by 
our  interior  and  shorter  lines,  to  throw  himself  across  his  path 
once  more.  He  was  constantly  seeking  an  opportunity  to  attack 
the  Federal  army,  now  dispirited  by  the  bloody  repulses  of  the 
repeated  attacks  on  our  lines,  so  obstinately  persisted  in  by 
General  Grant.  He  hoped  to  strike  the  blow  at  the  North  Anna 
or  between  the  Annas  and  the  Chickahominy.  He  hoped  much 
from  an  attack  on  Warren's  corps,  which,  having  crossed  at  Jeri 
cho  ford,  several  miles  higher  up  the  North  Anna,  lay  in  a  haz 
ardous  position,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Federal  army. 
General  Hill,  who  was  now  sufficiently  recovered  to  be  in  the 
saddle,  at  the  head  of  his  corps,  was  also  sanguine  of  success  in 
this  attack;  but  the  main  plan  miscarried  through  some  mishap, 
though  one  or  two  minor  successes  on  this  our  left  flank — nota 
bly  one  by  General  Mahone's  division — were  effected. 

But,  alas!  in  the  midst  of  these  operations  on  the  North  Anna, 
General  Lee  was  taken  sick  and  confined  to  his  tent.  As  he  lay 
prostrated  by  his  sickness,  he  would  often  repeat:  "We  must 
strike  them  a  blow;  we  must  never  let  them  pass  us  again — 
we  must  strike  them  a  blow."  But  though  he  still  had  reports  of 
the  operations  in  the  field  constantly  brought  to  him,  and  gave 
orders  to  his  officers,  Lee  confined  to  his  tent  was  not  Lee  on  the 
battlefield. 

I    know    it  is  unprofitable  now  to   consider  what  might  have 


62  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

happened,  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  venturing  to  express 
the  opinion,  that  had  not  General  Lee  been  physically  disabled, 
he  would  have  inflicted  a  heavy  blow  on  the  enemy  in  his  march 
from  the  Pamunkey  to  the  Chickahominy.  An  officer,  whose 
opinions  are  entitled  to  much  consideration,  has  often  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  opportunity  was  offered  for  this  blow  near 
Haw's  shop,  where  the  Confederate  cavalry,  under  Hampton  and 
Fitz.  Lee,  met  General  Sheridan,  sustained  heavily  by  the  Fede 
ral  infantry.  However  that  may  be,  Grant  found  Lee  always  in 
his  front  whenever  and  wherever  he  turned.  After  some  desul 
tory  but  sharp  fighting  on  the  Totopotomoy,  he  found  his  old 
adversary  in  position  at  Cold  Harbor* — a  place,  the  reminiscen 
ces  of  which  were  more  inspiring  to  the  Confederate  than  to  the 
Federal  troops. 

General  Grant,  as  soon  as  he  crossed  the  Pamunkey,  made  ar 
rangements  to  draw  troops  to  him  from  Butler,  who  was  lying  in 
compulsory  leisure  in  his  "  Bermuda  bottle."  His  reinforcements 
received  before  the  arrival  of  those  can  be  fairly  estimated  at 
more  than  fifty  thousand  men.  These  came  to  him  by  Acquia 
creek,  Port  Royal  and  the  White  House  on  York  river,  and  in 
cluding  these  four  divisions  drawn  from  the  Tenth  and  Eigh 
teenth  corps,  Northern  authorities  put  Grant's  effectives  from 
the  begining  of  the  campaign  up  to  the  days  of  the  Chicka 
hominy  conflict,  at  more  than  two  hunderd  and  twenty  thousand 
men  of  all  arms.  In  addition  to  the  troops  already  mentioned, 
General  Lee  drew  to  himself  Hoke's  division  of  Beauregard's 
army  at  Petersburg,  and  was  reinforced  by  Finnegan's  Florida 
brigade  and  Keitt's  South  Carolina  regiment.  These  bodies, 
amounting  to  between  seven  and  eight  thousand  men,  came  to 
him  on  the  Chickahmoiny.  Our  cavalry  was  also  reinforced 
during  the  latter  days  in  May  by  two  regiments  from  South 
Carolina  and  a  battalion  from  Georgia. 

The  victory  of  the  third  of  June,  at  Cold  Harbor  was  per 
haps  the  easiest  ever  granted  to  Confederate  arms  by  the  folly  of 
Federal  commanders.  It  was  a  general  assault  along  a  front  of 
six  miles  and  a  bloody  repulse  at  all  points,  and  a  partial  success 
at  one  weak  salient,  speedily  crushed  by  Finnegan's  Floridians 
and  the  Maryland  battalion.  The  loss  on  the  Federal  side  was 
conceded  to  be  about  thirteen  thousand ;  on  our  side  it  was  about 
twelve  hundred.  When  a  renewal  of  the  attack  was  ordered  by 
General  Grant  in  the  forenoon,  most  of  his  troops  refused  to 
move,  and  says  Swinton :  "  His  immobile  lines  pronounced  a  silent 

*It  may  he  worth  notng  that  this  Cold  Harbor,  now  made  famous  by  two  great  bat- 
tl°8,  is  the;  old  English  name  for  an  ordinary  or  tav.'rn.  where  the  traveler  could  g  -t  lodging 
without  food.  One  of  the  sets  of  apartments  in  Mi  -to\vnof  London  is  called  -'Cold  Harbor." 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VEXABLE.  63 

yet  emphatic  verdict  against  further  slaughter."  On  the  4th  of 
June  we  had  a  renewal  of  the  painful  scenes  of  Spotsylvania, 
with  the  dead  and  the  dying  assailants  lying  in  front  of  our  lines. 
On  the  5th  of  June,  General  Grant  asked  permission  to  bury  his 
dead.  By  that  time  his  wounded,  who  had  lain  so  long  under 
the  summer's  sun,  were  now  counted  with  the  dying,  and  the 
dying  with  the  dead.  General  Grant  lay  in  his  lines  until  the 
night  of  the  I2th  of  June.  The  notice  here  of  his  "resolution 
to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer"  seeming  "now 
"to  be  sicklied  o'er  by  the  pale  cast  of  thought."  On  that  day 
Sheridan  was  defeated  by  Hampton,  whose  force  consisted  of 
his  own  and  Fitz.  Lee's  divisions,  at  Trevyllian's  depot.  The 
main  object  of  Sheridan's  march  towards  Gorclonsville  was  to 
make  a  junction  with  Hunter's  and  Crook's  united  corps,  and 
bring  it  down  to  Grant's  army.  This  operation  being  rendered 
impossible  by  Sheridan's  defeat,  on  the  night  of  the  1 2th  of  June, 
the  Federal  army  began  its  march  to  the  south  side  of  the  James. 
General  Grant  had  at  first  been  of  the  opinion  that  the  south 
side  of  the  James  was  the  best  position  for  attack,  and  doubtless 
his  north  side  experience  had  made  this  opinion  a  positive  con 
viction.  Says  his  chronicler:  "The  march  of  fifty-five  miles 
across  the  peninsula  was  made  in  two  days,  and  with  perfect  suc 
cess."  Surely  after  so  much  unsuccessful  fighting,  the  Federal 
commander  is  entitled  to  all  praise  for  this  successful  marching. 

The  overland  campaign  was  at  an  end.  To  the  Federal  army 
it  had  been  a  campaign  of  bloody  repulses,  and  even  when  a 
gleam  of  success  seemed  to  dawn  upon  it  for  a  moment  fas  at  the 
Plank  road  on  May  6th  and  at  Spotsylvania  on  the  morning  of 
the  I  2th),  it  was  speedily  extinguished  in  blood,  and  immediate 
disaster  covered  over  the  face  of  their  rising  star  of  victory. 
Says  the  historian  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac:  "So  gloomy 
was  the  military  outlook  after  the  action  of  the  Chickahominy, 
that  there  was  at  this  time  great  danger  of  the  collapse  -of  the 
war.  The  history  of  this  conflict,  truthfully  written,  will  show 
this.  Had  not  success  elsewhere  come  to  brighten  the  horizon, 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  raised  new  forces  to  recruit 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which,  shaken  in  its  structure,  its 
valor  quenched  in  blood  and  thousands  of  its  ablest  officers 
killed  and  wounded,  was  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  no  more." 
In  a  foot  note  to  this  he  adds:  "The  archives  of  the  State  Depart 
ment,  when  one  day  made  public,  will  show  how  deeply  the  Gov 
ernment  was  affected  by  the  want  of  military  success,  and  to 
what  resolutions  the  Executive  had  in  consequence  come." 

That  the  morale  of  General  Lee's  army  was  high  at  this  time 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  strain  of  continuous  bloody  fight- 


64  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

ing  at  Spotsylvania  had  been  great;  but  the  campaigns  of  the 
North  Anna  and  Chickahominy  had  given  them  much  more  re 
pose.  They  were  conscious  of  the  success  of  the  campaign,  and 
were  on  better  rations  than  they  had  been  for  a  long  time.  The 
fat  bacon  and  (Weathersfield?)  onions  brought  in  at  that  time 
from  Nassau  were  very  cheering  to  the  flesh,  and  the  almost 
prodigal  charity  with  which  several  brigades  contributed  their 
rations  to  the  suffering  poor  of  Richmond  was  a  striking  incident 
in  the  story  of  these  days  on  the  Chickahominy.  But  cheerful 
and  in  high  spirits  though  they  were,  there  was  a  sombre  tinge 
to  the  soldier  wit  in  our  thinned  ranks  which  expressed  itself  in 
the  homely  phrase,  "What  is  the  used  of  killing  these  Yankees? 
it  is  like  killing  musquitoes — two  come  for  every  one  you  kill." 

As  General  Lee  had  sent  Breckinridge  back  towards  the  Valley 
on  June  8th  and  General  Early,  with  the  Second  corps  (now 
numbering  about  eight  thousand  muskets — it  having  suffered 
more  than  either  of  the  other  corps),  on  the  I2th  to  meet  Hunter 
at  Lynchburg,  and  restored  Hoke's  division  to  General  Beaure- 
gard  at  Petersburg,  the  odds  against  him  were  much  increased, 
as  he  had  now  with  him  only  from  twenty-five  to  twenty-seven 
thousand  infantry. 

These  bold  movements  show  what  he  thought  of  the  condition 
of  the  Federal  army  and  his  undiminished  confidence  in  the 
morale  of  his  own  troops. 

When  Grant  reached  the  James  in  safety,  after  his  successful 
march,  he  did  not  repose  under  the  shadow  of  his  gunboats,  as 
did  the  sorely  bruised  McClellan  in  1862.  Being  essentially  a 
man  of  action  and  obstinate  persistency — and,  more  than  all, 
having  the  advantage  of  McClellan  in  the  consciousness  that  his 
Government  had  staked  all  on  him  and  \vould  support  him  with 
all  its  resources — he  crossed  the  James  and  pushed  on  to  Peters 
burg.  He  attacked  Beauregard  on  the  Petersburg  lines  on  the 
1 5th  with  Smith's  corps,  sent  in  transports  from  the  Wliite  House. 
Reinforcing  Smith  heavily,  he  attacked  him  again  on  the  16th, 
and  pushed  corps  after  corps  to  the  front.  On  the  i/th  Beaure 
gard  had  all  Grant's  army  to  deal  with.  Fighting  against 
overwhelming  numbers,  he  had  exacted  a  bloody  tribute  for 
every  foot  gained  by  the  enemy.  Though  Grant  met  with 
partial  success  in  carrying  the  outer  lines,  held  by  a  mere 
handful  of  troops,  yet  Beauregard's  small  force,  strengthened  by 
his  brigades  withdrawn  from  the  Bermuda  Hundred  lines  and  by 
the  return  of  Hoke's  division  from  Cold  Harbor,  held  him  in 
check  at  the  interior  lines  until  General  Lee's  arrival,  with  rein 
forcements,  on  the  1 8th  of  June. 

General   Lee  remained  on  the  north  side  of  the  James   until 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VENABLE.  65 

June  1 5th.  On  the  night  of  that  day  he  camped  near  Drewry's 
Bluff.  On  the  l6th  and  i/th  of  June,  he  superintended  person 
ally  the  recapture  of  the  Bermuda  Hundred  lines  by  Field's  and 
Pickett's  divisions.  These  lines  had  been  occupied  by  Butler 
after  the  withdrawal  of  Beauregard's  troops  for  the  defence  of 
Petersburg  on  the  day  before.  The  incident  of  the  volunteer 
attack  of  our  men  on  these  lines,  various  incorrect  versions  of 
which  have  been  given,  happened  thus:  By  the  afternoon  of  the 
I /th  all  of  the  line  had  been  retaken  except  a  portion  in  front  of 
the  Clay  house.  The  order  had  been  given  to  Generals  Field 
and  Pickett  to  move  against  them  from  the  lines  which  they  held. 
But  meantime  the  engineers  reported  that  the  line  already  taken 
up  by  our  troops  was  of  sufficient  strength,  and  that  it  would  be 
an  unnecessary  waste  of  life  to  attack  the  part  still  held  by  the 
enemy.  The  orders  to  make  the  attack  were  countermanded  by 
General  Lee.  This  countermanding  order  reached  General  Field 
in  time,  but  did  not  reach  General  Pickett  until  his  troops  were 
already  involved  in  the  attack  under  his  orders.  General  Pickett 
sent  a  message  to  General  Gregg,  of  the  Texas  brigade,  of  Field's 
division,  which  was  next  to  his  right,  urging  him  to  go  in  and 
protect  his  flank.  Gregg  consented  at  once,  but  could  not  wisely 
move  until  he  had  sent  a  like  message  to  the  troops  on  his  right, 
as  the  interval  between  the  line  held  by  our  troops  and  that  held 
by  the  enemy  widened  much  from  left  to  right  in  front  of  Field's 
division.  At  this  moment,  however,  Pickett's  advancing  lines 
opened  fire,  and  in  an  instant  the  men  of  the  brigades  of  Field's 
division,  on  General  Gregg's  right  (first  squads  of  men  and  offi 
cers,  then  the  standards,  and  then  whole  regiments),  leaped  over 
our  entrenchments  and  started  in  the  charge  without  orders,  and 
General  Gregg  and  his  Texans  rushed  forward  with  them,  and  in 
a  few  moments  the  line  was  ours.  It  was  a  gallant  sight  to  see; 
and  a  striking  evidence  of  the  high  spirit  and  splendid  elan  of 
troops  who  had  now  been  fighting  more  than  forty  days,  in  one 
continuous  strain  of  bloody  battles.  It  was  a  hazardous  move 
ment,  as  the  position  attacked  was  a  very  strong  one;  but  it  was 
found  to  be  held  by  a  mere  handful  of  the  enemy,  and  our  loss 
was  very  slight.  I  have  been  thus  particular  in  the  details  of 
this  incident,  of  which  I  was  an  eye-witness,  as  General  Lee,  who 
was  at  the  Clay  house,  was  not  acquainted  with  all  the  facts  when 
he  sent  the  well-known  message  to  General  Anderson,  mention'- 
ing  only  Pickett's  men. 

On  the  next  day,  June  iSth,  General  Lee  marched  to  Peters 
burg  with  the  van  of  his  army,  Kershaw's  division,  with  which 
he  at  once  reinforced  Beauregard's  troops  in  the  line  of  defence. 
Both  Generals  were  on  the  field  that  day,  when  the  assault  along 


66  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  whole  line  was  made  by  the  Federal  corps,  which  met  with 
such  a  complete  and  bloody  repulse.  During  the  action  a  young 
artillery  officer  fell  by  General  Lee's  side,  shot  through  the  body. 
The  attack  made  no  impression  whatever  on  our  lines.  The  easy 
repulse  of  the  Federal  corps  on  this  occasion,  and  the  result  of 
the  attack  made  by  Hill  with  a  part  of  Wilcox's  and  Mahone's 
divisions  on  the  Second  and  Sixth  corps,  near  the  Jerusalem 
plank-road,  on  the  2ist,  when  sixteen  hundred  prisoners  and  four 
pieces  of  artillery  were  captured  by  Mahone,  made  it  plain  that 
the  opportunity  had  arrived  for  a  decisive  blow.  So  on  the  night 
of  the  22d,  General  Lee  sent  for  General  Alexander,  the  accom 
plished  Chief  of  Artillery  of  Longstreet's  corps,  and  made  arrange 
ments  for  the  disposition  of  the  artillery  for  an  attack  on  the 
morning  of  the  24th.  The  attack  was  to  begin  at  daylight,  with 
a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  from  Archer's  hill,  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Appomattox,  enfilading  the  enemy's  line  near  the  river; 
then  the  infantry  of  Hoke's  division,  sustained  by  Field's  division, 
was  to  begin  with  the  capture  of  the  line  next  the  river,  and  then 
sweep  along  the  line  uncovering  our  front,  thus  rolling  up  the 
Federal  right,  and  compelling  General  Grant  to  battle  in  the 
open  field  at  a  disadvantage.  At  daybreak  on  the  24th  the  ar 
tillery  opened  fire  and  did  its  work  well.  The  skirmishers  of 
Hagood's  brigade  of  Hoke's  division  went  forward  very  hand 
somely  and  captured  the  lines  next  the  river.  But  through  some 
mistake  this  success  was  not  followed  up — the  gallant  skirmish 
ers  were  not  sustained,  and  were  soon  made  prisoners  by  the 
forces  of  the  enemy  turned  against  them.  And  thus  the  whole 
plan,  so  well  conceived  and  so  successful  in  its  beginning,  was 
given  up  much  to  the  sorrow  of  the  Commanding-General. 

In  the  preliminary  operations  about  Petersburg  up  to  July  1st, 
Grant's  losses  footed  up  fifteen  thousand  men.  On  the  6th  of 
July,  his  engineers  pronounced  the  Confederate  works  impreg 
nable  to  assault.  From  this  date  the  operations  partook  of  the 
nature  of  a  siege. 

As  it  is  not  my  intention  to  give  any  record  of  events  after  the 
siege  of  Petersburg,  I  will  close  my  address  at  this  point  in  the 
campaign  of  '64 — a  campaign,  the  full  history  of  which  would 
leave  the  world  in  doubt,  whether  most  to  admire  the  genius  of 
our  great  leader  or  the  discipline,  devotion,  courage  and  con 
stancy  of  his  soldiers. 

On  the  4th  of  May  four  converging  invading  columns  set  out 
simultaneously  for  the  conquest  of  Virginia.  The  old  State, 
which  had  for  three  years  known  little  else  save  the  tramp  of 
armed  legions,  was  now  to  be  closed  in  by  a  circle  of  fire,  from 
the  mountains  to  the  seaboard. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    C.    S.    VENAHLE.  6/ 

Through  the  Southwestern  mountain  passes,  through  the  gates 
of  the  lower  valley,  from  the  battle-scarred  vales  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  by  the  waters  of  the  James, 
came  the  serried  hosts  on  field  and  flood,  numbering  more  than 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  men  (including  in  this 
number  also  reinforcements  sent  during  the  campaign).  No  troops 
were  ever  more  thoroughly  equipped  or  supplied  with  a  more 
abundant  commissariat.  For  the  heaviest  column,  transports 
were  ready  to  bring  supplies  and  reinforcements  to  any  one  of 
three  convenient  deep-water  bases — Acquia  creek,  Port  Royal 
and  the  White  House. 

The  column  next  in  importance  had  its  deep-water  base  within 
nine  miles  of  a  vital  point  in  our  defences.  In  the  cavalry  arm 
(so  important  in  a  campaign  in  a  country  like  ours)  they  boasted 
overwhelming  strength. 

The  Confederate  forces  in  Virginia,  and  those  which  could  be 
drawn  to  its  defence  from  other  points,  numbered  not  more  than 
seventy-five  thousand  men.  Yet  our  great  Commander,  with 
steadfast  heart,  committing  our  cause  to  the  God  of  battles,  calmly 
made  his  dispositions  to  meet  the  shock  of  the  invading  hosts.  In 
sixty  days  the  great  invasion  had  dwindled  to  a  siege  of  Peters 
burg  (nine  miles  from  deep-water)  by  the  main  column,  which, 
"shaken  in  its  structure,  its  valor  quenched  in  blood,  and  thous 
ands  of  its  ablest  officers  killed  or  wounded,  was  the  arm}'  of 
the  Potomac  no  more." 

Mingled  with  it  in  the  lines  of  Petersburg  lay  the  men  of  the 
second  column,  which,  for  the  last  forty  days  of  the  campaign, 
had  been  held  in  inglorious  inaction  at  Bermuda  Hundreds  by 
.Beauregard,  except  when  a  portion  of  it  was  sent  to  share  the 
defeat  of  June  3d  on  the  Chickahominy ;  while  the  third  and 
fourth  columns,  foiled  at  Lynchburg,  were  wandering  in  disor 
derly  retreat  through  the  mountains  of  \Yest  Virginia,  entirely 
out  of  the  area  of  military  operations.  Lee  had  made  his  works 
at  Petersburg  impregnable  to  assault,  and  had  a  movable  column 
of  his  army  within  two  clays'  march  of  the  Federal  capital.  He 
had  made  a  campaign  unexampled  in  the  history  of  defensive 
warfare. 

My  comrades,  I  feel  that  I  have  given  but  a  feeble  picture  of 
this  grand  period  in  the  history  of  the  time  of  trial  of  our 
beloved  South — a  history  which  is  a  great  gift  of  God,  and  which 
we  must  hand  down  as  a  holy  heritage  to  our  children,  not  to 
teach  them  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  bitterness  or  a  love  for  war,  but 
to  show  them  that  their  fathers  bore  themselves  worthily  in  the 
strife  when  to  do  battle  became  a  sacred  duty.  Heroic  history 
is  the  living  soul  of  a  nation's  renown.  When  the  traveler  in 


68  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Switzerland  reads  on  the  monument  near  Basle  the  epitaph  of 
the  thirteen  hundred  brave  mountaineers  who  met  the  over 
whelming  hosts  of  their  proud  invaders,  and  "fell,  not  conquered, 
but  wearied  with  victory,  giving  their  souls  to  God  and  their 
bodies  to  the  enemy";  or  when  he  visits  the  places  sacred  to  the 
myth  of  William  Tell,  transplanted  by  pious,  patriotic  fraud 
from  ]the  legends  of  another  people  to  inspire  the  youth  of  that 
mountain-land  with  the  hatred  of  tyrants  and  the  love  of  heroic 
deeds;  or  when  he  contemplates  that  wonderful  monument  by 
Thorwaldsen,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Lucerne,  in  commemoration 
of  the  fidelity  in  death  of  the  Swiss  Guard  of  Louis  XVI — a 
colossal  lion,  cut  out  of  the  living  rock,  pierced  by  a  javelin,  and 
yet  in  death  protecting  the  lily  of  France  with  his  paw, — he  asks 
himself,  how  many  men  of  the  nations  of  the  world  have  been 
inspired  with  a  love  of  freedom  by  the  monuments  and  heroic 
stories  of  little  Switzerland? 

Comrades,  we  need  not  weave  any  fable  borrowed  from  Scan 
dinavian  lore  into  the  woof  of  our  history  to  inspire  our  youth 
with  admiration  of  glorious  deeds  in-  freedom's  battles  done.  In 
the  true  history  of  this  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  which  laid 
down  its  arms  "  not  conquered,  but  wearied  with  victory,"  you 
have  a  record  of  deeds  of  valor,  of  unselfish  consecration  to 
duty,  and  faithfulness  in  death,  which  will  teach  our  sons  and 
our  son's  sons  how  to  die  for  liberty.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  it 
shall  be  transmitted  to  them. 

After  the  address  of*  Colonel  Venable  the  following  officers 
were  elected : 

President — General  FITZHUGH  LEE. 

Vice-Presidents — Colonel  R.  E.  Withers  and  General  B.  T. 
Johnson. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Secretaries — Sergeants  George  L.  Christian  and  Leroy  S. 
Edwards. 

Executive  Committee — General  W.  H.  Payne,  Sergeant  J.  V. 
L.  McCreery,  Major  W.  K.  Martin,  Colonel  T.  H.  Carter,  Colonel 
J.  B.  Cary. 


FOURTH  ANNUAL  KKUNION. 


The  interest  in  these  annual  reunions  continued  to  grow,  and  a 
larger  crowd  than  ever  assembled  in  the  State  Capitol  on  the 
evening  of  October  29th,  1874 — among  them  a  large  number  of 
our  most  distinguished  officers  and  most  heroic  private  soldiers. 

After  a  fervent  and  most  appropriate  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  L.  M. 
Curry,  D.  D.,  General  Fitz.  Lee,  in  well  chosen  words  and  appropri 
ate  terms,  greeted  his  comrades  and  welcomed  them  to  their 
reunion.  He  stated  that  the  Association  was  organized  for  both 
historical  and  social  purposes,  but  said  that  the  gathering  of 
historical  material  had  now  been  turned  over  to  the  Southern 
Historical  Society,  over  which  presides  the  indomitable  and  "al- 
ways-tell-the-truth  "  General  Jubal  A.  Early. 

But  the  social  feature  of  the  organization  remained,  and  it  was 
meet  that  they  should  gather  to  revive  memories  of  the  brave 
old  clays,  to  grasp  the  hands  of  comrades,  and  to  keep  fresh  the 
recollections  of  the  gallant  struggle  we  made  against  overwhelm 
ing  numbers  and  resources.  After  other  appropriate  remarks, 
General  Lee  gracefully  introduced,  as  orator  of  the  evening,  Colo 
nel  Charles  Marshall,  of  Baltimore,  "the  Military  Secretary  and 
confidential  friend  of  General  R.  K.  Lee." 

Colonel  Marshall  was  enthusiastically  greeted  and  was  fre 
quently  interrupted  with  loud  applause  as  he  delivered  the  follow 
ing  address: 

ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  MARSHALL. 

Mr.  President  and  Fel/oic  Soldiers  of  tlie  Army  of  Nortliern 
\lrginia — \Yhen  the  Executive  Committee  honored  me  with  the 
invitation  that  brings  me  before  you  to-night,  I  was  at  a  loss  to 
choose  from  the  teeming  annals  of  the  Arm}-  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  a  subject  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  and  one  that  my  in 
formation  would  enable  me  to  present  without  trespassing  too 
much  upon  your  patience. 

The  short  history  of  that  army  is  crowded  with  events  and 
incidents  which  will  furnish  Material  to  the  historian,  the  orator, 
the  poet  and  the  painter  as  long  as  heroic  courage,  uncomplain 
ing  endurance,  magnanimity  in  the  hour  of  victory,  and  fortitude 
under  adverse  fortune,  continue  to  command  the  admiration  and 
attract  the  sympathy  of  mankind. 

But  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  choose  at  will   from   those  inci- 


7O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

dents,  nor  can  I  venture  to  utter  the  thoughts  that  start  first  to 
my  mind  as  I  look  upon  the  faces  of  old  comrades  in  arms,  and 
upon  some  young  faces  that  remind  me  of  comrades  who  have 
passed  away.  I  dare  not  trust  myself  to  speak  to  you  of  those 
memories  of  our  army  life,  dearest  to  the  heart  of  a  soldier,  but 
which  make  no  part  of  the  world's  history  of  war.  Time  does 
not  permit  me  to  attempt  a  description  of  any  of  the  great  bat 
tles  in  which  you  bore  an  honorable  part,  nor  would  such  a 
description,  however  accurate,  as  well  illustrate  the  magnitude  of 
the  service  performed  by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  or 
afford  as  clear  a  view  of  the  difficulties  against  which  it  had  to 
contend,  and  of  the  burden  imposed  upon  its  courage  and  endu 
rance,  as  will  be  derived  from  the  subject  to  which  I  propose  to 
invite  your  attention,  if  I  can  succeed  in  presenting  that  subject 
properly.  Indeed,  it  requires  no  little  courage  to  undertake  to 
fight  any  of  the  battles  of  the  war  "o'er  again." 

It  has  been  sixty  years  since  Waterloo,  and  to  this  day  writers 
are  not  agreed  as  to  the  facts  of  that  famous  battle. 

English  historians  claim  that  the  steadfast  lines  of  the  Iron 
Duke  turned  the  scale  of  victory,  while  the  Germans,  with  equal 
confidence,  assert  that  the  glory  is  due  to  him  for  whose  coming 
Wellington  is  said  to  have  prayed,  as  he  watched  the  dubious 
tide  of  battle.  Victor  Hugo,  with  all  the  light  of  history  before 
him,  has  amused  every  man  who  ever  saw  a  battle  with  his 
description  of  the  field  that  decided  the  fortune  of  Napoleon  and 
of  Europe. 

It  is  not  fourteen  years  since  our  war  began,  and  yet  who  on 
either  side  of  those  who  took  part  in  it  is  bold  enough  to  say 
that  he  knows  the  exact  truth,  and  the  whole  truth,  with  refe 
rence  to  any  of  the  great  battles  in  which  the  armies  of  the 
North  and  South  met  each  other? 

Was  not  Mr.  Sumner  censured  by  the  Legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts  because,  prompted  in  part  at  least,  let  us  hope,  by  the 
love  of  truth,  he  renewed  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  after 
the  war  a  'resolution  which  in  substance  he  had  previously 
brought  forward? — 

"  Resolved,  That it  is  inexpedient  that  the 

names  of  victories  obtained  over  our  own  fellow  citizens  should 
be  placed  on  the  regimental  colors  of  the  United  States." 

This  resolution  would  erase  from  the  colors  of  the  United 
States  army  such  names  as  those  of  Cold  Harbor,  Manassas,  Fred- 
ericksburg,  and  Chancellorsville,  which  you  have  seen  inscribed 
upon  captured  flags.  Now  we  believe  that  zve  won  those  fights,. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  /I 

and  we  wonder  why  a  resolution  of  Congress  should  be  neces 
sary  to  blot  them  from  the  list  of  Union  victories  recorded  on 
the  standards  of  its  armies. 

\Ve  think  that  we  know  something  about  the  second  battle  at 
Manassas,  and  yet  is  not  General  Fitz  John  Porter,  who  fought 
us  so  stubbornly  at  the  first  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  now  in  dis 
grace,  because  it  was  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  Federal 
courtmartial  that  half  the  Confederate  army  was  not  where  we 
all  know  it  was  on  the  morning  of  August  29th,  1862?  And  on 
our  side,  have  we  not  read  General  Joseph  F.  Johnston's  "Con 
tribution  of  materials  for  the  use  of  the  future  historian  of  the  war 
between  the  States,"  and  has  any  one  risen  from  the  perusal  of 
that  interesting  book,  without  the  conviction  that  its  distinguished 
author  is  mistaken  as  to  some  of  his  statements,  or  that  all 
cotemporaneous  history  is  in  error? 

I  will  venture  to  present  only  two  of  the  perplexities  in  which 
"the  future  historian  of  the  war  between  the  States"  will  find 
himself  involved  when  he  comes  to  compare  the  "material"  con 
tributed  by  General  Johnston  with  the  other  "material"  con 
tributed  by  official  records  and  documents,  which  General  John 
ston  seems  not  to  have  seen,  or  not  to  have  consulted: 

General  Johnston  says,  page  145  of  his  "Narrative":  "The 
authors  of  Alfriend's  life  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  sonic  other 
biographies  represent,  to  my  disparagement,  that  the  army  with 
which  General  Lee  fought  in  the  'Seven  Days'  was  only  that 
which  I  had  commanded.  It  is  very  far  from  the  truth.  General 
Lee  did  not  attack  the  enemy  until  the  26th  of  June,  because  he 
was  employed  from  the  1st  until  then  in  forming  a  great 
army,  by  bringing  to  that  which  I  had  commanded  fifteen  thous 
and  men  from  Xortk  Carolina,  under  Major-General  Holmes; 
twenty -two  thousand  men  from  SoutJi  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and 
above  sixteen  thousand  men  from  the 'Valley*  in  the  divisions  of 
Jackson  and  Rwell,  which  the  victories  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port 
Republic  had  rendered  disposable." 

General  Johnston  states  in  a  note  the  sources  of  his  informa 
tion. 

He  says  "  General  Holmes  told  me,  in  General  Lee's  presence, 
just  before  the  fight  began  on  the  3ist  (of  May),  that  he  had  that 
force  (fifteen  thousand  men)  ready  to  join  me  when  the  President 
should  give  the  order."  He  then  refers  to  other  evidence,  which 
he  says  is  in  his  possession,  going  to  show  that  the  reinforcements 
brought  by  General  Holmes  to  General  Lee,  and  which  took  part 
in  the  "Seven  Days"  Battles,  amounted  to  fifteen  thousand  men. 

As  to  the  twenty-two  thousand  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
General  Johnston  says:  "General  Ripley  gave  in  this  number.  He 


72  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

brought  the  first  brigade,  five  thousand  men.  General  Lawton  told 
me  that  his  was  six  thousand  ;  General  Drayton  that  his  was  seven 
thousand.  There  was  another  brigade,  of  which  I  do  not  know 
the  strength." 

Now  the  "future  historian"  ought  not  lightly  to  doubt  the  ac 
curacy  of  any  statement  of  General  Johnston,  and  upon  that 
high  authority  he  would  record  that  before  the  battles  of  the 
"Seven  Days,"  General  Lee  received  from  three  of  the  sources 
mentioned  by  General  Johnston  reinforcements  to  the  number 
of  thirty-seven  thousand  men,  who  took  part  in  those  engagements 
which  resulted  in  dislodging  General  McClellan  from  his  position 
on  the  Chickahominy. 

And  yet  how  hard  the  "future  liistorian"  will  be  put  to  it  to 
reconcile  "Johnston's  Narrative"  with  the  official  reports  made,  at 
the  time.  In  the  first  volume  of  the  official  reports  of  the  opera 
tions  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  published  by  authority 
of  the  Confederate  Congress,  at  page  151,  will  be  found  General 
Holmes'  statement  of  the  number  of  men  brought  by  him  to 
take  part  in  the  battles  around  Richmond  during  the  "  Seven 
Days." 

General  Holmes  there  says,  that  upon  crossing  the  James, 
river  he  was  joined  on  the  3Oth  June  by  General  Wise  with  two 
regiments  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-two  bayonets  and  two  bat 
teries  of  artillery,  and  adds:  "The  effective  force  under  my  orders 
thus  amounted  to  six  tlwitsand  infantry  and  six  batteries  of  artil 
lery"  being  less  by  nine  thousand  infantry  than  General  John 
ston's  "Narrative"  assigns  to  General  Holmes.  General  John 
ston  says  that  Ripley's  brigade  was  five  thousand  strong,  and 
that  General  Ripley  so  informed  him. 

There  may  have  been  that  number  of  men  borne  upon  the 
rolls  of  the  brigade,  but  we  have  .General  Ripley's  official  report 
of  the  number  of  troops  under  his  command  that  actually  took 
part  in  the  battles  around  Richmond. 

At  page  234,  volume  I  of  the  official  reports  already  referred 
to,  General  Ripley  says:  "The  aggregate  force  which  entered 
into  the  series  of  engagements  on  the  26th  of  June  was  twenty- 
tJiree  hundred  and  sixty-six,  including  pioneers  and  the  ambulance 
corps." 

The  "Narrative"  puts  the  force  under  General  Lawton  at  six 
thousand  men,  but  before  the  "historian  of  the  war"  ventures  to 
make  use  of  this  contribution  to  his  materials,  he  will  do  well 
to  look  at  the  official  reports,  at  page  270  of  the  first  volume, 
where  he  will  find  that  General  Lawton  gives  the  force  which  he 
carried  into  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  on  the  2/th  June,  1862, 
as  thirty-five  hundred  men.. 


ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  MARSHALL.  73 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  General  Drayton's  report  of  the 
part  taken  by  his  command  in  the  battles  around  Richmond — if 
he  did  take  part  in  them — and  therefore  cannot  compare  the 
number  assigned  to  General  Drayton  in  those  engagements  by 
General  Johnston's  "Narrative"  with  any  official  documents,  but 
if  the  reports  of  Holmes,  Lawton  and  Ripley  be  correct,  they 
brought  less  than  eleven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six 
men  to  participate  in  those  battles,  instead  of  twenty-six  thou 
sand  as  stated  by  General  Johnston. 

Ripley  and  Lawton,  according  to  their  reports,  had  five  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  men  in  the  "  Seven  Days' " 
battles,  instead  of  eleven  thousand,  according  to  Johnston's  Nar 
rative. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  Drayton's  brigade,  and  the  other, 
whose  strength  General  Johnston  says  he  does  not  know,  must 
have  made  up  the  rest  of  the  twenty-two  thousand  men  who  we 
are  informed  came  to  General  Lee  from  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  to  aid  in  driving  McClellan  from  the  Chickahominy — 
that  is,  those  two  brigades,  Drayton's  and  the  unknown,  must 
have  numbered  about  sixteen  thousand  men. 

General  Johnston  says  that  General  Drayton  told  him  that  his 
brigade  was  seven  thousand  strong,  so  that  the  unknown  brigade 
must  have  numbered  nine  thousand  to  make  up  the  twenty-two 
thousand  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

It  may  have  been  so.  There  may  have  been  a  brigade  in  Gen 
eral  Lee's  army  nine  thousand  strong,  but  in  speaking  about  it 
before  you,  I  think  it  safer  to  refer  to  it  as  the  "  unknown  brigade." 
And  in  this  connection  let  me  suggest  to  the  future  historian  of 
the  war  that  before  he  writes  Drayton's  brigade  down  as  con 
tributing  seven  thousand  men  to  the  army  around  Richmond  in 
the  "Seven  Days'"  Battles,  it  will  be  well  for  him  to  inquire 
whether  that  brigade  joined  the  army  at  all  until  after  McClellan 
had  been  driven  from  the  Chickahominy  and  the  arm}-  had 
marched  northward  upon  a  new  campaign. 

He  will  find  no  trace  of  this  brigade  in  the  reports  of  the 
Seven  Days'  Battles,  although  they  are  so  much  in  detail  as  to 
include  the  reports  of  captains  of  companies. 

A  Confederate  brigade  seven  thousand  strong  would  probably 
have  taken  some  part  worth  reporting,  and  its  name  ought  to 
appear  in  the  official  account. 

Drayton's  command  will  be  found  mentioned  in  the  official 
reports  of  subsequent  operations  of  the  army  at  Manassas  and 
in  Maryland. 

As  to  the   "  unknown  brigade,"  that,  I  think,  will   turn  out  to 
6 


74  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

be  a  small  command  under  General  Evans,  of  South  Carolina, 
who  did  not  join  the  army  until  after  it  moved  from  Richmond.* 

Another  instance  of  the  difficulties  which  surround  those  who 
venture  to  enter  upon  a  detailed  history  of  the  war,  will  be  found 
in  the  same  Narrative. 

On  page  140  General  Johnston  says:  "About  noon  (of  the  1st 
June)  General  Lee  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  by  the  President,  and  at  night  the  troops 
were  ordered  by  him  to  return  to  their  camps  near  Richmond, 
which  they  did  soon  after  daybreak  Monday"  (June  2d). 

On  the  next  page  General  Johnston  proceeds  to  describe  the 
relative  forces  and  positions  of  the  armies  that  had  been  engaged 
on  Saturday,  and  says,  with  reference  to  the  condition  of  affairs 
on  Sunday,  June  ist:  "After  nightfall,  Saturday,  the  two  bodies 

*  It  is  proper  to  remark  that  the  army  around  Richmond  received  a  larger  reinforcement 
from  North  Carolina  than  the  number  given  in  General  Holni"s'  official  report. 

General  Holmes  had  under  his  command  in  North  Carolina  four  brigades,  which  afterwards 
cam"  to  Virginia,  and  which  are  no  doubt  the  troops  referred  to  by  GeneralJohnston  as  coin- 
prising  the  fifteen  thousand  men  that  joined  General  Lee  after  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines. 

These  brigades  were  commanded  by  General  Branch,  General  Ransom  and  General  J.  G. 
Walker;  and  a  fourth,  known  as  the  Third  North  Carolina  brigade,  was  commanded  during 
its  service  at  Richmond  by  Colonel  Junius  Daniel. 

Of  these.  Branch's  brigade  joined  the  army  at  Richmond  before  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines. 
It  was  engaged  with  the  enemy  near  Hanover  Junction  on  the  twenty-sixth  May,  and  after 
wards  formed  a  part  of  A.  P.  Hill's  division.  General  Ransom's  brigade  consisted  of  six  regi 
ments,  one  of  which,  the  Forty-eighth  North  Carolina,  was  transferred  to  Walker's  brigade. 
Hansom's  tive  regiments  numbered  about  three  thousand,  though  his  effective  force  was 
somewhat  less.  It  was  attached  to  Huger's  division  on  the  twenty-fifth  June,  and  is  counted 
in  that  division. 

Walker's  brigade,  as  reported  by  Colonel  Manning,  who  succeeded  General  Walker  after 
the  latter  was  disabled  on  the  first  July,  was  about  four  thousand  strong;  and  the  Third 
brigade,  under  Colonel  Daniel,  was  about  one  thousand  seven  hundred,  according  to  the  lat 
ter  officer.  (See  Reports  of  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  volume  1,  pages  322  and  325.)  These 
last  two  commands  composed  the  force  mentioned  by  General  Holmes  in  his  report. 

General  Johnston's  statement  that  fifteen  thousand  men  came  from  North  Carolina,  under 
General  Holmes,  is  theiefore  calculated  to  give  an  erroneous  idea  of  the  actual  increase  of 
the  army  under  General  Lee  between  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines  and  the  battles  around  Rich 
mond.  Branch's  brigade  should  not  be  included  in  the  troops  that  came  from  North  Caro 
lina,  under  Holmes,  because  that  brig/de  was  with  the  army  before  General  Johnston 
was  wounded;  and  for  the  further  reason,  that  as  it  afterwards  formed  part  of  A.  P.  Hill's 
division,  it  would  be  counted  twice  if  it  also  be  treated  as  part  of  the  troops  brought  by 
General  Holmes.  A  similar  error  would  be  likely  to  occur  with  reference  to  Ransom's 
brigade,  which  is  counted  as  part  of  Huger's  division,  and  should  be  excluded  from  the 
troops  under  Holmes. 

In  fact,  I  have  seen  an  estimate  of  General  Lee's  forces  in  the  Seven  Days'  Battles,  based 
upon  the  statement  of  General  Johnston,  above  referred  to,  in  which  General  Holmes'  com 
mand  is  put  down  as  fifteen  thousand  stiong;  while  Ransom's  and  Branch's  brigades  are  at 
tlie  same  time  counted  as  part  of  the  divisions  of  Huger  and  A.  P.  Hill,  thus  doubling  the 
strength  of  those  brigades. 

It  should  also  be  observed  in  connection  with  the  statement  of  General  Johnston,  as  to 
the  number  of  troops  that  came  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  that  there  is  danger  of  a 
]ike  error.  Among  those  troops  was  Lawton's  brigade.  Now  Lawton  did  not  come  directly 
to  Richmond  from  the  South. 

When  he  reached  Burkeville,  on  his  way  to  Richmond,  General  tee  was  about  to  cover  the 
contemplated  movement  against  General  McClellan,  by  creating  the  impression  that  Jackson 
was  to  be  reinforced,  so  as  to  resume  the  offensive  in  the  Valley.  For  this  purpose,  Lawton 
was  sent  from  Burkeville,  by  way  of  Lynchburg,  to  join  Jackson  near  Staunt  on,  and  Whiting's 
division,  of  two  brigades,  \vasdetached  from  the  army  before  Richmond.  IJoth  Lawton 
and  Whiting  joined  Jackson,  and  formed  part  of  the  command  with  which  he  came  to  Rich 
mond  and  engaged  in  the  Seven  Days'  Battles.  (See  Jackson's  report,  volume  I,  page  129, 
Reports  of  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  where  it  will  be  seen  that  Lawton  was  attached  to 
Jackson's  division.)  This  fact  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  estimating  the  strength  of  General 
Lee's  army,  because  General  Johnston's  Narrative  counts  tli  -  force  under  Jackson  as  com 
posing  paYt  of  the  reinforcements  received  by  General  Lee.  (See  Narrative,  page  14i>.) 
Lawton  must  b»  counted  as  part  of  the  twenty-two  thousand,  or  as  part  of  Jackson's  com 
mand.  Whiting  should  not  be  counted  among  the  reinforcements,  because  he  belonged  to 
the  army  under  General  Johnston. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  75 

of  Federal  troops  were  completely  separated  from  the  two  corps 
of  their  right,  beyond  the  Chickahominy,  by  the  swollen  stream 
which  had  swept  away  their  bridges,  and  Simmer's  corps,  at 
Fair  Oaks,  was  six  miles  from  those  of  Heintzelman  and  Keyes, 
which  was  at  Bottom's  bridge;  but  the  Confederate  forces  were 
united  on  the  front  and  left  flank  of  Sumner's  corps.  Such 
advantage  of  position  and  superiority  of  numbers  would  have 
enabled  them  to  defeat  that  corps  on  Sunday  morning  before 
any  aid  could  have  come  from  Heintzelman,  after  which  his 
troops,  in  the  condition  to  which  the  action  of  the  day  before  had 
rendered  them,  could  not  have  made  effectual  resistance." 

And  again,  on  page  143,  General  Johnston  says:  "No  action 
of  the  war  has  been  so  little  understood  as  that  of  Seven  Pines. 
The  Southern  people  have  felt  no  interest  in  it,  because,  being 
unfinished  in  consequence  of  the  disabling  of  the  commander, 
they  saw  no  advantage  derived  from  it;  and  the  Federal  com 
manders  claimed  the  victor}',  because  the  Confederate  forces  did 
not  renew  the  battle  on  Sunday,  and  fell  back  to  their  camps  on 
Monday." 

The  meaning  of  these  extracts  is  that  the  Confederate  army 
lost  a  great  opportunity  to  destroy  part  of  that  of  General  Mc- 
Clellan  the  day  after  General  Johnston  was  wounded,  and  that 
General  Lee  is  responsible  for  the  loss  of  that  opportunity, 
because  he  took  command  about  noon  on  Sunday  and  at  night 
ordered  the  troops  back  to  their  camps  near  Richmond,  instead 
of  pressing  the  advantage  they  had  gained  on  Saturday  and 
availing  himself  of  the  separation  of  the  Federal  forces  caused 
by  the  flood  in  the  Chickahominy. 

Xow,  I  believe  that  General  Johnston  is  the  last  person  in  the 
world  to  endeavor  to  magnify  his  own  great  merits  by  depre 
ciating  the  conduct  of  others,  and  especially  by  depreciating  the 
conduct  of  one  whose  name,  canonized  by  death,  is  treasured  by 
the  Southern  people  in  their  inmost  hearts. 

And  yet  General  Johnston  has  fallen  into  an  error  in  those 
parts  of  his  narrative  that  I  have  quoted,  which  is  calculated  to 
give  the  sanction  of  his  great  name  to  a  reflection  upon  the 
capacity  and  conduct  of  the  illustrious  chief  under  whom  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  won  its  undying  renown. 

General  Lee  was  on  the  battlefield  on  Sunday,  June  ist,  as  he 
was  also  the  day  before;  but  General  Lee  did  not  take  actual 
command  of  the  army  until  June  2d,  and  when  he  did  the  troops 
were  already  in  the  camps  around  Richmond,  whence  General 
Johnston  had  led  them  to  fight  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines. 

When,  unfortunately  for  the  country,  General  Johnston  was 
wounded,  General  G.  \V.  Smith  succeeded  to  the  command,  but 
was  unable  to  retain  it  by  reason  of  his  feeble  health. 


/6  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

The  opportunity  spoken  of  by  General  Johnston  was  not  re 
ported  until  after  the  army  had  returned  to  its  encampment,  and 
could  not  therefore  have  been  made  use  of  as  General  Johnston 
seems  to  think  it  should  have  been.* 

When  you  see  that  those  who  have  every  desire  to  tell  the 
truth,  and  whose  opportunities  of  knowing  the  facts  of  which 
they  write  are  so  far  superior  to  my  own,  have  fallen  into  errors 
which  I  am  sure  they  will  be  the  first  to  correct,  you  will  readily 
understand  why  I  do  not  venture  to  select  from  all  the  events 
which  marked  the  history  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
any  one  of  its  great  battles  as  the  subject  of  my  address  to 
night.  I  have  been  engaged  for  two  or  three  years,  as  some  of 
you  may  know,  in  trying  to  write  an  account  of  the  life  and 
achievements  of  the  great  leader  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  and  conscious  of  my  inability  to  "rise  to  the  height  of 
that  great  argument,"  I  have  spared  no  labor  to  make  what  I 
may  write  accurate,  however  in  other  respects  it  may  fall  below 
the  dignity  of  the  subject. 

The  Secretary  of  War  saw  proper  to  deny  my  request  (pre 
ferred  by  a  distinguished  Senator  of  the  United  States,  who  hon 
ored  me  with  his  confidence  and  friendship)  to  be  permitted  to 
examine  the  captured  records  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
of  the  contents  of  which  some  Federal  officers,  more  fortunate 
than  myself,  have  from  time  to  time  given  what  the  lawyers  call 
"parol  testimony." 

I  have  thus  been  thrown  back  upon  other  sources  of  informa 
tion,  and  while  I  am  most  grateful  for  the  assistance  I  have  re 
ceived  from  officers,  both  Federal  and  Confederate,  to  whom  I 
have  applied,  candor  compels  me  to  acknowledge  that  the  seeker 
after  truth  has  a  hard  time  of  it  when  he  undertakes  to  describe 
with  anything  like  minuteness  any  of  the  great  battles  of  the 
war. 

Ever  since  the  surrender  at  Appomattox  Courthouse  I  have 
regarded  myself  as  a  man  of  peace;  but  I  am  obliged  to  admit 
that  on  one  or  two  occasions,  in  my  pursuit  of  information,  I 
have  been  tempted  to  forget  my  peaceful  character,  when  some 
zealous  Federal  officer  has  insisted  upon  convincing  me  that  the 
Confederate  army  was  beaten  in  the  Wilderness,  or  some  unre 
constructed  Rebel  has  refused  to  admit  that  we  were  repulsed  at 
Gettysburg. 

Knowing,  therefore,  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  way  of  the 
honest  inquirer,  I  cast  the  mantle  of  charity  over  the  errors  of 

•Northern  officers  do  not  agree  with  General  Johnston  as  to  the  situation  of  the  Federal 
army  on  the  1st  June,  and  the  existence  of  the  opportunity  referred  to  in  the  "  Narrative" 
is  far  from  being  one  of  those  "  materials "  upon  which  the  future  historian  can  rely  as 
established  beyond  dispute. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL. 


77 


those  who  venture  to  provide  "materials  for  the  use  of  the  future 
historian  of  the  war  between  the  States,"  but  I  shrink  from  fol 
lowing-  their  example,  lest  I  also  fall  into  the  same  condemnation. 

There  are,  however,  some  undisputed  facts  with  reference  to 
the  war,  from  the  study  of  which  a  better  understanding  of  mili 
tary  operations  can  be  derived  than  from  a  detailed  history  of 
marches  and  battles,  and  I  propose  to  invite  your  attention  to 
one  of  those  interesting  and  instructive  subjects. 

I  refer  to  the  influence  upon  the  conduct  and  issue  of  the  war 
in  Virginia  which  was  exerted  by  the  selection  of  the  city  of 
Richmond  as  the  seat  of  the  Confederate  Government,  and  the 
establishment  here  of  those  depots  and  arsenals  necessary  to 
supply  an  army  operating  north  of  the  James  river. 

It  is  not  possible,  in  fact,  to  explain  the  operations  of  the  con 
tending  armies  in  Virginia  without  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
importance  which  the  possession  of  Richmond  acquired  during 
the  progress  of  the  war. 

For  four  years  the  greatest  efforts  of  the  Federal  Government 
were  directed  to  the  capture  of  the  city,  while  the  strongest  army 
of  the  Confederacy  was  arduously  engaged  and  finally  exhausted 
in  its  defence. 

The  political  consequence  assigned  by  common  consent  to  the 
capital  of  a  country,  and  especially  to  the  capital  of  a  country 
struggling  for  recognition,  would  doubtless  have  rendered  any 
place  which  the  Confederate  Government  might  have  selected 
for  that  purpose  a  prominent  object  of  attack ;  but  Richmond 
had  a  value  in  a  military  point  of  view  that  far  exceeded  its 
political  importance. 

The  great  region  of  country  between  the  James  river  and  the 
Potomac  has  become  historic.  It  was  the  Flanders  of  the  war, 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  nearly  or  quite  a  quarter  of 
million  of  men  perished  in  the  fierce  struggle  for  its  possession 
in  which  the  armies  of  the  North  and  South  were  engaged  for 
nearly  four  years. 

This  territory  was  of  great  value  to  the  Confederacy,  on  account 
of  the  supplies  it  furnished  to  the  army  and  the  recruits  whom 
its  brave  and  patriotic  population  sent  to  our  ranks. 

But  it  was  not  the  supplies  and  the  recruits  which  gave  it  its 
chief  value. 

The  effectiveness  of  any  army  of  the  Confederacy  depended  in 
a  great  degree  upon  its  proximity  to  the  enemy's  country,  and  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  the  same  number  of  Confederate  troops 
could  not  be  placed  where  they  would  give  occupation  to  so  much 
of  the  vastly  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  as  in  that  region  between 
the  James  and  the  Potomac,  within  reach  of  the  sensitive  Southern 


78  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

frontier  of  the  United  States,  on  whose  extreme  border  stood  the 
city  of  Washington,  for  the  safety  of  which  the  Federal  authori 
ties  considered  no  preparation  excessive,  no  sacrifice  too  great. 

A  few  considerations  will  suggest,  rather  than  fully  explain, 
the  importance  to  the  Confederacy  of  being  able  to  maintain  in 
Northern  Virginia  an  army  sufficiently  strong  to  keep  alive  the 
anxiety  of  the  Washington  Government  for  the  safety  of  the 
capital  and  the  defence  of  the  avenues  of  approach  to  the  large 
cities  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  resources  of  the  Federal  Government  greatly  exceeded 
those  of  the  Confederacy. 

After  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  Mr.  Lincoln  perceived  that 
while  the  moral  effect  of  treating  the  war  as  one  waged  for  the 
suppression  of  a  rebellion  was  of  service  in  uniting  the  different 
political  parties  in  the  North,  and  in  giving  the  prestige  of 
legitimacy  to  his  Government,  yet,  that  in  truth,  the  North,  under 
the  name  of  the  "  United  States,"  had  entered  upon  a  war  of 
•conquest,  and  he  forthwith  began  to  prepare  for  it  on  a  scale 
adequate  to  the  emergency. 

More  than  half  a  million -of  men  were  called  to  arms,  and  a 
navy  was  speedily  launched,  strong  enough  to  perform  the  great 
task  committed  to  it  of  blockading  the  Southern  coast  from  the 
Capes  of  Virginia  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grade,  and  ultimately 
to  turn  the  doubtful  scale  in  favor  of  the  baffled  armies  of  the 
Union. 

The  results  of  this  vigorous  policy  were  soon  manifested. 

Vast  armies  gathered  along  our  frontier,  nimble  gunboats  and 
powerful  iron-clads  swarmed  in  our  rivers  and  along  our  coasts, 
and  every  part  of  the  South  felt  itself  exposed  to  invasion. 

It  was  manifestly  impossible  for  the  Confederate  Government 
to  attempt,  with  any  hope  of  success,  to  oppose  this  vast  force  at 
every  point  that  might  be  assailed. 

The  undisputed  control  of  the  water,  and  the  extensive  coasts 
and  great  navigable  rivers  of  the  South,  enabled  the  Federal 
Government  to  threaten  so  many  points  at  once,  that  to  oppose 
the  enemy  everywhere  would  require  a  ruinous  dispersion  of  the 
Confederate  forces.  The  fatal  consequences  of  such  an  attempt 
had  been  demonstrated  as  soon  as  military  operations  were  re 
sumed  in  the  beginning  of  1862. 

Kentucky  and  a  great  part  of  Tennessee  were  quickly  over 
run;  Missouri  was  practically  lost;  the  unfortunate  city  of  New 
Orleans  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy;  General  Johnston  found 
himself  obliged  to  retire  from  Northern  Virginia,  and  strong  ex 
peditions  of  the  enemy  succeeded  in  establishing  themselves 
along  our  Atlantic  coast.  The  Confederates  had  some  troops 
everywhere,  but  not  enough  anywhere. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  79 

But  although  they  had  to  abandon  the  plan  of  opposing  the 
enemy  successfully  at  every  point  of  attack,  it  was  still  possible, 
by  concentrating  their  forces  upon  some  vulnerable  part  of  the 
Federal  frontier,  to  compel  the  enemy  to  pursue  the  same  policy 
of  concentration,  and  thus  impair  his  means  of  assailing  exposed 
localities  which  the  Confederacy  did  not  posess  the  power  to 
defend. 

The  position  of  the  city  of  Washington,  and  the  paramount 
importance  attached  by  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  advisers  to  its  safety, 
afforded  such  an  opportunity  to  the  Confederate  commander. 
The  safety  of  the  Federal  capital  was  regarded  by  the  authorities 
at  Washington  as  essential  to  a  successful  prosecution  of  the  war, 
and  the  precautions  taken  for  its  defence  were  always  in  propor 
tion  to  their  estimate  of  its  importance,  rather  than  the  actual  danger 
of  losing  it.  The  presence  of  General  Johnston's  army  at  Ma- 
nassas  detained  that  of  General  McClellan,  nearly  three  times  as 
strong,  at  Washington  during  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1861  — 

O  *  O  «T"> 

'62.  The  advance  of  the  small  force  of  Jackson  down  the  Val 
ley,  when  he  drove  General  Banks  across  the  Potomac,  at  a  time 
when  the  Federal  armies  were  nearly  everywhere  successful,  ex 
cited  such  apprehensions  for  the  city  of  Washington  that  the 
strong  army  of  McDowell  was  recalled  from  Fredericksburg  to 
oppose  him,  and  General  McClellan  was  deprived  of  its  co-opera 
tion  in  his  intended  attack  on  Richmond. 

These  results  were  so  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  the  actual 
danger  to  which  at  any  time  Washington  was  exposed,  as 
naturally  to  suggest  the  idea  that  by  availing  ourselves  of  the 
extreme  sensitiveness  of  the  Federal  authorities  on  the  subject, 
we  could  compel  the  concentration  of  their  forces,  and  cause 
them  to  abandon  some  parts  of  our  country  which  we  were  not 
strong  enough  to  protect. 

This  will  be  found  to  be  a  marked  feature  of  the  operations  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  under  the  command  of  General 
Lee. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  he  resorted  to  this  plan  to  compel 
the  army  of  General  McClellan  to  withdraw  from  the  James 
after  it  had  been  dislodged  from  its  position  on  the  Chickahominy. 
He  did  not  hesitate,  notwithstanding  the  declaration  by  General 
McClellan  of  his  intention  to  renew  his  operations  against  Rich 
mond  from  his  new  base,  to  detach  the  whole  of  Jackson's  com 
mand,  which  was  speedily  followed  by  the  strong  division  of  A. 
P.  Hill. 

These  troops,  under  the  energetic  lead  of  Jackson,  crossed  the 
Rapidan,  and  attacked  the  army  of  General  Pope  with  a  bold 
ness  which  caused  him  to  concieve  a  very  exaggerated  idea  of 
their  numbers. 


8O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Pope's  advance  was  checked,  and  the  troops  of  General  Burn- 
side,  which  had  been  recalled  to  assist  McClellan,  were  brought 
to  Fredericksburg,  to  co-operate  with  Pope  in  resisting  the  ad 
vance  of  the  Confederate  army.  This  movement  of  Burnside 
made  it  evident  that  nothing  would  be  undertaken  by  McClellan, 
and  General  Lee  immediately  began  to  move  the  last  of  his  army 
northward,  confident  that  he  would  thereby  accelerate  the  recall 
of  McClellan  from  the  James. 

At  the  same  time  the  troops  of  D.  H.  Hill,  which  had  been 
stationed  south  of  James  river,  were  drawn  to  Richmond,  with 
such  reinforcements  as  the  withdrawal  of  General  Burnside  from 
North  Carolina  had  made  disposable,  with  orders  to  follow  the 
main  body  of  the  army  northward  as  soon  as  General  McClellan 
should  be  recalled. 

Thus  was  completed  that  great  step  towards  the  concentration 
of  the  Confederate  forces  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the 
powerful  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  army  did  not  receive  its  name 
until  after  it  had  returned  from  Northern  Virginia  and  was 
engaged  in  defending  Richmond.  The  name  seems  to  have  been 
inspired  by  the  conviction  that  Northern  Virginia  was  destined 
to  be  the  scene  of  its  operations. 

This  concentration  on  our  part,  and  the  danger  with  which 
Washington  was  supposed  to  be  menaced,  brought  about  the  re 
sults  anticipated  by  General  Lee. 

McClellan's  army  was  brought  to  reinforce  Pope;  troops  were 
taken  from  the  coast  of  Carolina  and  from  Western  Virginia  to 
aid  in  defending  the  Federal  capital,  and  it  became  evident  that 
a  Confederate  army  could  not  render  more  efficient  service  and 
afford  more  complete  protection  to  the  country  than  by  arousing 
the  apprehensions  of  the  authorities  at  Washington  for  the  safety 
of  that  city. 

The  advantage  which  the  Confederacy  derived  from  its  ability 
to  maintain  a  strong  army  near  the  Northern  and  Northeastern 
border  of  Virginia  will  also  appear  if  we  reflect  what  would  have 
been  the  condition  of  affairs  had  the  Confederate  army  retired 
from  that  region  and  fallen  back  towards  the  North  Carolina  line, 
as  it  must  have  done  in  order  to  keep  up  its  connections  with 
the  South. 

It  is  evident  that  in  that  case  the  whole  Southern  border  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  city  of  Washington,  would  have 
been  relieved  of  serious  apprehension,  and  the  troops  occupied 
in  providing  against  an  expected  invasion  on  our  part  would  have 
been  disposable  for  aggressive  movements  against  us. 

The  effect  of  the  loss  of  Kentucky  and  the  greater  part  of 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  8 1 

Tennessee  opon  military  operations  in  the  West  will  further  illus 
trate  my  meaning. 

After  our  troops  in  the  West  had  fallen  back  so  far  from  the 
Northern  border  as  to  interpose  between  them  and  the  States 
beyond  the  Ohio  river  an  extensive  district  of  country,  practically 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  the  Federal  Government  had  a 
much  greater  force  at  its  command  for  use  in  the  field  than  would 
have  been  the  case  had  it  been  required  to  guard  its  long  South 
ern  border. 

Time  will  not  permit  me  to  point  out  all  the  advantages  result 
ing  from  the  tenure  of  Northern  Virginia  by  the  Confederacy, 
but  I  have  said  enough  to  indicate  to  my  thoughtful  hearers  that 
the  great  struggle  of  nearly  four  years,  which  was  waged  for  the 
possession  of  this  region,  involved  consequences  to  the  Confede 
racy  of  far  greater  importance  than  the  mere  loss  of  territory,  or 
of  the  recruits  and  supplies  it  derived  from  Northern  Virginia. 

But  while  the  presence  of  our  army  in  Northern  Virginia  was 
of  advantage  in  many  ways,  some  of  which  I  have  suggested,  it 
is  apparent  that  to  enable  that  army  to  accomplish  its  object,  it 
needed  all  the  strength  the  Confederacy  could  give  it. 

It  was  near  the  Northern  border,  in  the  presence  continually  of 
the  most  powerful  of  all  the  Union  armies,  and  constantly  exposed 
to  the  attack  of  superior  numbers. 

With  all  the  important  consequences  which  depended  upon 
the  ability  of  that  army  to  maintain  itself,  and  in  view  of  the 
gigantic  task  imposed  upon  it  of  meeting  the  repeated  efforts  of 
the  enemy  to  force  it  further  back  from  the  Union  frontier,  and 
from  the  Federal  capital,  it  would  seem  that  the  army  had  as 
much  as  it  could  do,  and  that  the  skill  of  its  leader  and  the 
courage  of  his  men  would  be  full}'  occupied  in  performing  the 
arduous  task  immediately  before  them. 

You  will  now  understand  the  subject  to  which  I  propose  to  in 
vite  your  attention — that  is,  the  influence  which  the  situation  and 
military  importance  of  the  city  of  Richmond  exerted  upon  the 
conduct  and  issue  of  the  war. 

Valuable  as  Northern  Virginia  was  to  the  Confederacy,  its  pos 
session  came  to  depend  entirely  upon  our  ability  to  defend  the 
city  of  Richmond.  Flere  were  established  the  depots  and  arsenals 
of  the  army  operating  in  Northern  Virginia,  or  through  Rich- 

J  L  O  fc>  O 

mond  it  had  the  chief  means  of  access  to  sources  of  supply 
further  South. 

With  Richmond  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  it  is  evident  that 
no  large  Confederate  army  could  have  been  maintained  in  North 
ern  Virginia. 

There  was  no  other  city  in  Virginia  that  had   railroad  conncc- 


82  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

tions  with  the  South  sufficient  to  furnish  transportation  for  the 
supply  of  such  an  army  as  it  was  important  to  maintain  in  North 
ern  Virginia. 

Lynchburg  might  have  been  connected  with  the  railroads  in 
North  Carolina,  and  thus  have  had  an  interior  line  of  communi 
cation  with  the  South  less  accessible  to  the  enemy  than  any  that 
Richmond  posessed,  but  no  such  communication  was  made,  nor 
does  it  profit  now  to  inquire  whether  it  could  have  been  made. 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  impressing  you  with  a  sense  of  the  im 
portance  of  Northern  Virginia  to  the  prosperous  maintenance  of 
the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Confederacy,  you  cannot  fail  to  per 
ceive  that  in  addition  to  the  great  task  which  devolved  upon  that 
army  in  the  immediate  field  of  its  operations,  it  had  also  to 
assume  all  the  difficulties  which  the  situation  of  Richmond  im 
posed  upon  those  who  undertook  to  defend  it. 

Early  in  the  second  year  of  the  war,  the  Confederacy  was  com 
pelled  to  yield  to  the  enemy  quiet  possession  of  the  James  river 
to  within  a  few  miles  of  Richmond.  From  that  time  it  was 
always  possible  for  the  Federal  Government  to  transport  troops 
from  the  North  and  land  them  within  less  than  a  day's  march  of 
the  city,  without  the  fear  or  even  the  possibility  of  interruption 
by  us. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  refer  to  the  additional  facilities  of  approach 
to  Richmond  which  the  York  river  afforded  to  the  enemy.  The 
place  upon  the  safety  of  which  so  much  depended  was  in  fact 
almost  as  accessible  from  the  North  by  water  as  the  city  of  Alex 
andria.  Its  distance  from  the  base  of  a  Federal  army  operating 
against  it  gave  it  no  advantage  if  that  army  could  almost  reach 
its  gates  by  a  safe  and  rapid  water  transportation. 

In  attacking  the  city,  situated  as  it  was,  the  powerful  flotilla  of 
the  enemy  was  able  to  co-operate  efficiently  with  his  land  forces, 
so  that  the  defenders  of  Richmond  had  to  resist  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  Federal  army  and  navy.  Nor  did  Richmond  for 
purposes  of  defence  possess  any  of  the  advantages  of  an  inland 
town,  even  should  the  enemy,  renouncing  the  facilities  which  his 
command  of  the  water  afforded  him,  attempt  to  approach  the  city 
by  land. 

The  movement  of  General  Grant  in  1864  from  Culpeper  Court 
house  to  the  James  river  illustrates  clearly  the  disadvantages 
which  the  army  defending  Richmond  was  forced  to  incur,  owing 
to  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  city. 

General  Grant  marched  from  Culpeper  Courthouse,  abandon 
ing  his  communications  with  Washington  by  the  Orange  and 
Alexandria  road.  But  he  had  no  need  to  care  for  his  old  com 
munications,  as  his  first  halt  in  the  Wilderness,  and  his  next  at 


ADDRESS  OF  COLONEL  MARSHALL.  83 

Spotsylvania  Courthouse,  afforded  him  an  easy  and  safe  access 
to  the  Potomac  river  at  Acquia  Creek,  within  a  few  hours  rail  of 
Washington,  by  a  road  directly  in  the  rear  of  and  covered  by  his 
army.  As  General  Grant  advanced  further  south  from  Spotsyl 
vania  Courthouse  to  the  Annas,  the  Rappahannock  below  Fred- 
ericksburg  gave  him  new  water  communications  with  his  base, 
using  Port  Royal  in  the  rear  of  his  army  as  a  landing.  When 
his  third  stage  brought  him  to  the  Pamunkey,  another  and  per 
fectly  safe  communication  was  opened  with  Washington  by  the 
York  river  and  Chesapeake  bay,  and  when  his  last  march  brought 
him  to  the  James,  his  communication  with  Washington  and  all 
Northern  ports  became  safe  and  perfect,  without  requiring  the 
detachment  of  a  single  man  from  his  arm}'  to  guard  it. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  although  General  Grant's  march  was 
through  Virginia,  it  was  attended  with  few  of  the  difficulties  that 
beset  such  a  movement  in  a  hostile  country. 

The  Federal  army  was  not  troubled  with  the  protection  of  its 
lines  of  communication,  for  it  abandoned  one  only  to  find  another 
and  a  safer  at  the  end  of  ever}'  march. 

Deprived  thus  of  the  opportunities  that  such  a  movement 
usually  affords  those  who  resist  an  army  seeking  to  penetrate  the 
interior  of  a  country,  the  army  of  General  Lee  could  only  oppose 
direct  resistance  to  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  and  hence  the 
bloody  contests  between  the  few  and  the  man}-  that  strewed  the 
road  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James  with  thousands  of  dead  and 
wounded. 

But  while  Richmond  could  thus  be  easily  approached  by  water, 
and  while  it  had  none  of  the  advantages  of  an  interior  position, 
even  as  against  an  advance  of  the  enemy  by  land,  the  difficulty 
of  defending  it,  in  case  a  Federal  army  too  strong  to  be  clisloged 
should  succeed  in  establishing  itself  near  the  city,  was  insuper 
able.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  would  reverse  all  the  conditions  of 
a  successful  resistance  to  a  strong  by  a  weaker  force. 

It  would  impose  upon  the  smaller  army  the  protection  of  long 
lines  of  railroad,  without  which  neither  the  troops  nor  the 
population  could  be  supplied,  while  its  stronger  adversary  would 
be  perfectly  safe  in  its  communications,  and 'free  to  use  every  man 
for  the  purpose  of  attack. 

But  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  point  out  to  those  who  took 
part  in  the  defence  of  Richmond  the  manifold  and  fatal  disadvan 
tages  they  struggled  so  bravely  to  overcome. 

I  have  said  enough  to  show  the  difficulties  that  beset  that  de 
fence,  and  yet  all  these  difficulties  were  added  to  the  duties,  cares 
and  labors  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

I  have  only  time  to  refer  to  one  or  two  illustrations  of  the  dis- 


$4  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

advantages  which  the  defence  of  Richmond,  added  to  its  other 
great  labors,  imposed  upon  the  army — disadvantages  proceeding 
altogether  from  the  exposed  situation  of  the  city,  and  the  absolute 
naval  supremacy  of  the  enemy. 

It  is  plain  that  the  necessity  of  looking  to  the  defence  of  the 
city  against  the  great  peril  to  which  it  was  constantly  exposed 
could  not  fail  to  influence  and  control  the  operations  of  the  army. 

You  will  remember  how,  in  the  winter  of  1862— '63,  the  fear  of 
an  advance  of  the  enemy  on  the  south  side  of  the  James  caused 
the  detachment  from  the  army  at  Fredericksburg  of  the  greater 
part  of  Longstreet's  corps,  and  the  apprehension  of  danger  to 
Richmond  from  that  direction  was  so  great,  that  it  was  not  con 
sidered  expedient  to  return  these  troops  to  the  army,  even  for 
the  purpose  of  taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville. 
Their  absence  exposed  the  army  of  General  Lee  to  the  greatest 
peril,  and  perhaps  stripped  the  victory  of  Chancellorsville  of 
the  fruits  it  might  have  borne. 

Again,  you  will  remember  that  the  presence  of  a  Federal  fleet 
in  the  James,  and  the  movement  of  a  Federal  army  from  Ber 
muda  Hundreds,  detained  from  us  one  of  the  strongest  divisions 
of  Longstreet's  corps,  while  we  were  grappling  with  our  gigantic 
enemy  in  the  Wilderness  and  at  Spotsylvania  Courthouse. 

The  same  necessity  prevented  us  from  calling  to  our  assistance 
the  other  troops  under  General  Beauregard  on  the  south  side  of 
the  James,  with  whose  aid  we  might  have  once  more  rolled  the 
tide  of  war  back  to  our  Northern  border,  and  made  the  result  of 
the  enemy's  campaign  of  1864  like  that  of  1862  and  of  1863. 

But  the  most  marked  influence  which  the  situation  of  Rich 
mond,  and  the  necessity  of  providing  for  its  defence,  exerted  upon 
the  conduct  of  the  war  in  Virginia,  is  seen  in  its  connection  with 
the  expeditions  of  the  army  beyond  the  Potomac. 

This  I  shall  endeavor  briefly  to  explain.  The  great  advantages 
which  the  enemy  would  have  in  besieging  Richmond,  were  so 
apparent  that  it  was  a  saying  of  the  Commander  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  that  Richmond  was  never  so  safe  as  when  its 
defenders  were  absent. 

His  meaning  was  that  the  safety  of  Richmond  depended  upon 
our  ability  to  employ  the  enemy  at  a  distance,  and  prevent  his 
near  approach  to  the  city.  Such  was  the  policy  adopted  by  him, 
and  which  secured  the  comparative  safety  of  Richmond  from  the 
time  the  army  moved  Northward  in  1862,  to  the  time  when,  worn 
out  with  more  than  two  years  of  exhausting  war,  it  was  forced  to 
retire  within  the  entrenchments  of  Richmond  before  the  great 
and  ever  increasing  multitudes  of  its  adversary. 

But  it  was  only  by  acting  upon  the  apprehensions  of  the  enemy 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  85 

that  such  a  result  could  be  attained  with  the  force  under  General 
Lee's  command. 

Accordingly,  when,  by  the  second  battle  of  Manassas,  he  had 
driven  the  united  forces  of  Pope  and  McClellan,  with  all  the  rein 
forcements  that  had  been  added  to  them,  back  upon  the  defences 
of  Washington,  it  became  necessary  for  General  Lee  to  decide 
how  he  could  prevent  them  from  sending  an  expedition  by  water 
against  Richmond,  and  thus  necessitate  the  withdrawal  of  the 
army  from  Northern  Virginia  to  defend  the  city.  To  have  done 
this  would  have  been  practically  to  give  up  the  advantages  we  had 
gained  in  the  campaign  from  Richmond  to  Manassas. 

It  was  out  of  the  question  to  attempt  to  besiege  the  Federal  army 
in  the  defences  of  Washington  south  of  the  Potomac,  even  had 
General  Lee  been  provided  with  the  means  to  do  so,  nor,  could 
those  works  have  been  taken,  would  any  advantage  have  resulted 
at  all  commensurate  with  the  sacrifice  of  life  that  would  have 
attended  the  effort,  as  the  army  would  still  have  been  separated 
from  Washington  by  a  river  crossed  by  a  high  bridge  more  than 
a  mile  long,  and  commanded  by  the  enemy's  gunboats. 

Nor  was  it  possible  for  the  army  to  remain  near  its  late  battle 
fields,  as  the  country  around  was  entire!)'  stripped  of  supplies, 
and  there  was  no  railroad  to  Richmond  except  from  the  Rapidan. 

To  have  fallen  back  southward  far  enough  to  open  railroad 
communications  with  Richmond,  besides  sacrificing  to  a  great 
extent  the  moral  effect  of  the  Confederate  successes,  might  have 
invited  a  renewel  of  the  attempt  on  the  city  by  way  of  the  James 
river. 

Under  these  circumstances,  there  was  but  one  course  left  for 
him  to  pursue,  if  he  would  save  Richmond  from  the  peril  which 
he  knew  would  attend  its  investment  by  the  large  army  of  the 
enemy.  He  must  give  occupation  to  that  army,  and  such  occu 
pation  as  would  compel  the  largest  concentration  of  its  forces-. 
By  this  means  he  might  even  induce  the  enemy  to  withdraw 
troops  from  other  parts  of  the  Confederacy,  and  thus  obtain 
additional  reinforcements  for  himself. 

These  results,  however,  required  that  he  should  continue  to 
threaten  Washington  and  the  Northern  States,  and  this  he  could 
not  do  effectually  unless  he  could  put  his  army  near  Washington, 
and  at  the  same  time  where  it  could  be  supported.  It  was  for 
these  reasons,  as  we  learn  from  the  report  of  General  Lee's  first 
invasion  of  Maryland,  that  he  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  for  like 
reasons,  as  it  would  be  easy  to  show,  he  invaded  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania  in  1863. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  trace  the  campaigns  of  the  army  be 
yond  the  Potomac,  interesting  and  imperfectly  understood  as  the 


86  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

events  of  those  campaigns  are,  but  I  have  accomplished  my 
present  purpose  if  I  have  succeeded  in  explaining  that  the  situa 
tion  of  Richmond  was  intimately  connected  with  the  designs  of 
General  Lee  in  undertaking  those  expeditions,  and  that  the  bat 
tles  of  Sharpsburg  and  Gettysburg  were,  in  fact,  but  a  part  of 
the  plan  by  which  General  Lee  sought  to  defend  Richmond,  and 
thereby  maintain  his  army  in  Northern  Virginia  and  in  proximity 
to  the  enemy's  border. 

It  would,  perhaps,  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  General  Lee 
would  not  have  crossed  the  Potomac  but  for  the  peculiar  situation 
and  vital  importance  of  Richmond. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  had  the  objective  point  of  Federal 
operations  in  Virginia  been  some  less  exposed  and  less  accessible 
place,  the  Confederate  army  might  have  gained  advantages  that 
would  have  enabled  it  to  assume  the  offensive  in  fact  as  well  as 
in  appearance.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  in  such  an  event, 
the  Confederate  Government  would  have  availed  itself  of  the 
opportunity  to  reinforce  its  armies  in  the  South  and  West  rather 
than  engage  in  the  invasion  of  the  North.  That  it  had  the  incli 
nation  to  pursue  this  policy,  is  demonstrated  by  the  detachment 
of  two  divisions  of  Longstreet's  corps  to  reinforce  General  Bragg, 
at  a  time  when  it  was  thought  that  General  Lee  would  not  require 
his  whole  force  in  Virginia.  In  fact,  I  may  mention  that  while  the 
army  lay  on  the  Rapidan  in  the  winter  of  1863  and  1864,  it  was 
at  one  time  in  contemplation  to  send  General  Lee  himself  to  take 
command  of  the  army  in  Georgia.  The  confidence  of  General 
Lee  in  the  belief  that  Richmond  could  not  be  successfully  de 
fended  except  by  keeping  the  enemy  at  a  distance,  was  illustrated 
to  the  last. 

The  close  of  three  years  of  bloody  war  found  his  diminished 
forces  struggling  with  fresh  and  ever  increasing  numbers,  and 
yet  so  strong  was  General  Lee's  conviction  of  the  necessity  of 
preventing  the  enemy  from  forming  the  siege  of  Richmond,  that 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  reduce  his  strength  still  further,  in  order 
to  aim  one  last  blow  at  the  Federal  capital,  in  the  hope  that  he 
might  thus  cause  General  Grant  to  send  a  part  of  his  army  to  its 
defence. 

Such  was  the  object  of  General  Early 's  expedition  to  Mary 
land. 

It  was  not  supposed  that  General  Karly's  small  force  would 
cause  the  withdrawal  of  General  Grant's  army,  but  it  was  hoped 
that  the  latter  would  be  induced  to  detach  a  part  of  his  force,  and 
in  that  event  reinforcements  could  have  been  sent  to  General 
Karly,  until  at  last  the  scene  of  hostilities  might  once  more  have 
been  transferred  from  Richmond  to  the  Northern  frontier,  and 
•one  more  expensive  campaign  of  the  enemy  have  been  frustrated.' 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    MARSHALL.  8/ 

But  the  vast  superiority  of  the  enemy  in  numbers  enabled  him 
to  provide  for  the  defence  of  Washington  without  seriously 
diminishing  the  army  of  General  Grant,  and  the  siege  of  Rich 
mond  remained  unbroken. 

I  have  thus  imperfectly  endeavored  to  present  to  you,  in  a 
general  way,  the  difficulties  under  which  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  had  to  struggle,  and  I  think,  if  I  have  made  myself  under 
stood,  that  yon  will  be  able  to  form  a  better  idea  of  the  extent 
and  magnitude  of  its  services  than  could  be  derived  from  a  de 
scription  of  its  various  battles,  the  most  accurate  comparison  of 
its  strength  with  that  of  the  enemy,  or  the  most  careful  enumera 
tion  of  the  losses  it  sustained  or  inflicted. 

With  the  burden  of  Richmond's  weakness  constantly  resting 
upon  one  arm,  with  the  other  it  dealt  those  ponderous  blows 
under  which  the  gigantic  power  of  the  Federal  Government 
shook  to  its  foundation. 

These  are  reflections  which  add  new  interest  to  the  recollec 
tion  of  our  battles  and  our  marches.  1  he}'  give  unit}' and  consist 
ency  to  a  narrative  that  is  commonly  regarded  as  made  up  of 
detached  and  independent  events. 

But  time  will  not  permit  me  to  pursue  the  subject  further  now, 
nor  do  1  believe  that  when  we  meet,  as  on  this  occasion,  to  revive 
the  recollections  and  associations  ot  our  arm}*  life,  you  give  your 
first  thoughts  to  battles  and  campaigns.  Such  names  as  Cold 
Harbor,  Manassas,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  and  imper 
ishable  Petersburg,  recall  proud  memories  1  know. 

But  your  thoughts,  my  comrades,  when  you  hear  those  names, 
recur  first  to  the  dear  friends  who  la}'  by  your  side  in  the  bivouac 
of  the  night,  and  were  struck  dead  by  your  side  in  the  battle  of 
the  morrow. 

You  cease  to  think  of  the  stirring  events  of  the  combat  when 
you  recall  the  scenes  after  the  battle,  when— 

"Our  bugle  sang  truce,  and  the  night  clouds  had  lowered, 

And  the  sentinel  stars  set  their  watch  in  the  sky, 
And  thousands  had  sunk  to  the  ground  overpowered, 
The  weary  to  sleep,  and  the  wounded  to  die." 

You  remember  how  you  sat  by  some  comrade  whose  life-blood 
was  fast  ebbing,  and  received  from  lips,  soon  to  be  sealed  in 
death,  the  last  fond  words  to  mother,  wife,  child,  friend.  You 
recall  a  son  kneeling  over  the  prostrate  body  of  his  father,  or  a 
father,  leaning  on  his  musket,  and  gazing  with  mingled  agony 
and  pride  upon  a  brave  young  face,  white  in  death,  his  hope,  his 
treasure,  dead — yes,  but  dead  on  the  field  of  duty  and  honor — 
dead  in  honor's  foremost  ranks. 


88  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

These  are  the  memories  which  the  survivors  of  the  army  cher 
ish  nearest  their  hearts,  and  with  which  they  go  back  to  their 
battlefields,  not  as  to  the  scenes  of  triumph   or  of  disaster,  but 
as  to  holy  ground  on   which   brave   comrades    fell — ground  on 
which  they  tread  with  veiled  eyes  and  unsandelled  feet. 
It  was  not  our  fortune  to  reap  the  fruits  of  successful  war. 
It  was  not  ours,  coming  back  to  our  homes,  to  hear  from  those 
for  whom  our  arms  had  won  liberty  and  safety,  the  grateful  wel 
come — 

"  O  !  day  thrice  lovely  !  when  at  length  the  soldier 
Returns  home  into  life;  when  he  becomes 
A  fellow-man  among  his  fellow-men. 
The  colors  are  unf  uri'd,  the  cavalcade 
Marshals,  and  now  the  buzz  is  hushed   and,  hark  ! 
Now  the  soft  peace  march  beats,  home,  brothers,  home." 

But  as  I  look  back  over  the  whole  history  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  from  its  birth,  through  its  life  of  arduous  toil 
and  danger,  to  the  hour  when  its  unstained  sword  dropped  from 
its  exhausted  hand,  I  feel  that  it  is  worthy  to  have  applied  to  it 
the  noble  words  addressed  by  the  English  poet  to  the  fallen 
oak — 

"Thou  who  unmoved,  hast  heard  the  whirlwind  chide, 
Full  many  a  winter  round  thy  craggy  bed, 
And  like  an  earth-born  giant  has  outspread 
Thy  hundred  arms  and  Heaven's  own  bolts  defied, 
Now  liest  along  thy  native  mountain  side 
Uptorn  !   Yet  deem  riot  that  I  corne  to  shed 
The  idle  drops  of  pity  o'er  thy  head, 
Or  basely  to  insult  thy  blasted  pride. 
No !  still  'tis  thine,  though  fallen,  Imperial  Oak, 
To  teach  this  lesson  to  the  wise  and  brave, 
That  'tis  far  better,  overthrown  and  broke, 
In  Freedom's  cause  to  sink  into  the  grave, 
Than  in  submission  to  a  Tyrant's  yoke, 
Like  the  vile  reed,  to  bow  and  be  a  slave." 

The  Association  then  elected  the  following  officers  for  the  en 
suing  year: 

President — General  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT. 

Vice-Presidents — General  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  General  R.  Ransom, 
General  A.  L.  Long,  General  H.  Heth,  Captain  D.  B.  McCorkle. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Secretaries — Sergeant  George  L.  Christian,  Sergeant  L.  S.  Ed 
wards. 

Executive  Committee — General  B.  T.  Johnson,  Colonel  Thomas 
H.  Carter,  Major  T.  A.  Brander,  Major  Walter  K.  Martin,  Private 
Carlton  McCarthy. 


BANQUET. 


THE  BANQUET. 

The  Association  then  adjourned  to  the  Exchange  Hotel  where 
an  excellent  supper  was  served.  After  full  justice  had  been  done 
to  the  viands  a  number  of  regular  toasts  were  read,  and  eloquent 
responses  were  made  by  Governor  Kemper,  General  W.  B.  Tal- 
liaferro,  General  W.  H.  Payne,  General  J.  A.  Early,  General  Eitz. 
Lee,  General  W.  H.  E.  Eee,  General  R.  Lindsay  Walker,  General 
J.  A.  Walker,  Dr.  Cullen,  Dr.  Carrington,  Judge  Farrar,  General 
Bradley  T.  Johnson,  General  Robert  Ramson,  General  E.  H. 
Smith,  Colonel  C.  S.  Venable,  Colonel  Charles  Marshall  and  Ser 
geant  George  L.  Christian. 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


On  Thursday  evening,  October  29th,  1875,  the  Hall  of  the 
House  of  Delegates  was  packed  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The 
First  Vice-President,  General  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  called  the  meeting 
to  order.  Rev.  Dr.  J.  William  Jones  opened  the  exercises  with 
prayer. 

General  Lee  made  a  graceful  and  touching  allusion  to  the  recent 
death  of  General  George  E.  Pickett,  President  of  the  Associa 
tion,  and  paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to  his  memory.  He  then  made 
a  brief  but  most  appropriate  address,  and  introduced  as  orator  of 
the  evening  Major  John  W.  Daniel,  of  Lynchburg — "one  known 
in  the  annals  of  the  State,  as  well  as  a  gallant  soldier  who  served 
on  General  Early's  staff." 

Major  Daniel  was  received  with  deafening  applause,  and  was 
frequently  cheered  to  the  echo  as  he  delivered  the  following 
address  : 

ADDRESS  OF  MAJOR  DANIEL. 

Fellow  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  NortJiern  Virginia — Not  With 
the  ringing  bugle  nor  the  throbbing  drum  in  our  van,  nor  with 
the  battle  flag  floating  proudly  o'er  our  ''tattered  uniforms  and 
bright  muskets,"  come  we  again  to  the  historic  city  which  was 
once  the  busy  arsenal  and  the  glowing  heart  of  the  Confederate 
revolution. 

Stately  palaces*  now  line  the  avenues  so  lately  filled  with 
charred  and  smoking  ruins.  The  fields  around  us  smile  in  culti 
vated  beauty  where  lately  trod  the  iron  hoof  of  war,  "fetlock 
deep  in  blood."  The  lordly  river,  no  longer  grim  with  batteries 
on  its  banks  and  iron-clads  upon  its  surface,  nor  choked  with 
obstructions  in  its  channel,  rolls  its  majestic  tides  in  unbroken 
currents  to  the  sea.  And  save  here  and  there,  where  some  rude 
earthwork,  overgrown  with  grass  and  weeds,  scars  the  landscape, 
fair  nature  tells  no  tale  of  the  devastation  of  civil  strife. 

But  long  after  the  elements  of  changing  seasons  and  the  slow 
process  of  time  have  obliterated  from  the  physical  world  every 
scar  and  stain  of  conflict,  the  scenes  around  us,  animate  with 
their  heroic  actors,  shall  be  portrayed  to  other  generations  with 
all  the  vividness  of  artist's  brush  and  poet's  song,  and  faithful 
chroniclers  shall  recount  to  eager  ears  the  story  which  has  made 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  9! 

the  name  of  Richmond  not  ^ss  memorable  than  the  name  of 
ancient  Troy,  and  has  immortalized  those  more  than  Trojan 
heroes  the  devoted  citizen  soldiery  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

Surviving  comrades  of  that  valiant  host,  I  hail  you  with  a  com 
rade's  warmest  greeting.  In  Virginia's  name  I  welcome  you 
back  to  Virginia's  capital  city,  amongst  those  generous  people 
who  nerved  your  arms  by  their  cheerful  courage,  who  bent  over 
your  wounds  with  ministering  care,  who  consoled  adversity  by 
fidelity,  and  plucked  from  defeat  its  sting. 

Here  to-night  we  come  as  men  of  peace — faithfully  rendering 
unto  Cajsar  the  things  that  are  his — but  happy  to  touch  elbows 
once  more  together  in  the  buttle  of  life,  and  proud  to  revive  the 
cherished  memories  of  the  "brave  clays  of  yore,"  and  to  renew 
the  solemn  and  high  resolve  that  their  bright  examples  and  great 
actions  shall  not  perish  from  the  records  of  time. 

Happier,  indeed,  would  I  have  been  if,  on  this  occasion,  the 
task  of  reproducing  some  page  of  your  famous  history  haul  been 
confided  to  other  and  abler  hands  than  mine;  for  in  this  distin 
guished  presence,  with  my  superiors  in  rank,  ability  and  military 
services  around  me,  the  soldier's  sense,  of  subordination  creeps 
over  me,  and  I  would  fain  fall  back  into  the  ranks  of  those  who 
are  seen  but  not  heard. 

But  since  it  is  I  who  am  appointed  to  play  the  role  of  the  old 
soldier — 

u  \Vho  shoulders  his  crutch 
And  >hows  how  fields,  were  won," 

I  bow  obediently  to  orders,  trusting  that  the  splendor  of  my 
themes  may  obscure  the  deficiences  of  your  orator,  and  that  your 
generosity — as  characteristic  of  the  soldier  as  his  courage — may 
sheathe  the  critic's  sword  in  its  scabbard. 

THEME    SUGGESTED. 

In  their  courteous  letter  of  invitation,  your  Committee  ex 
pressed  the  desire  that  I  should  select  as  the  subject  of  my  dis 
course  some  one  of  the  great  campaigns  or  battles  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia.  And,  acceding  to  their  wishes,  I  reviewed 
in  my  mind  the  long  line  of  its  splendid  achievements,  no  little 
embarrassed,  by  their  very  variety  and  brilliancy,  in  fixing  atten 
tion  upon  any  particular  one.  There  was  no  campaign  of  that 
matchless  army  that  did  not  abound  in  glorious  exploits  of  both 
generals  and  soldiers.  There  was  no  single  action,  whatever  its 
result,  that  draped  the  battle  flag  in  dishonor,  and  it  is  a  signifi- 


92  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

cant  fact — an  eternal  eulogy  in  itself  to  that  stout-hearted  band 
of  heroes — that  it  never  was  driven  in  disorder  from  any  field 
of  battle  under  its  enemy's  fire,  until  when,  worn  out  by  ceaseless 
strife  with  constant  levies  of  fresh  men,  it  was  overwhelmed  by 
Grant  at  Petersburg,  and  closed  its  career  with  undiminished 
glory  on  the  field  of  Appomattox. 

IXDECISIVENESS    OF    THE    VIRGINIA    BATTLES. 

But  there  is  this  equally  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia — that  almost  all  of  its  engagements 
were  attended  by  no  decisive  results.  The  capitals  of  the  two 
belligerant  nations  (Washington  and  Richmond)  were  but  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  distant,  and  that  portion  of  Virginia 
lying  between  them  became  an  immense  amphitheatre  of  conflict, 
within  which  the  armies  of  the  Potomac  and  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  like  fierce  gladiators,  repeated  from  year  to  year  their 
bloody  contests,  with  fortunes  varying  only  sufficiently  to  brighten 
hope  or  beget  depression,  but  continually  postponing  the  glitter 
ing  prize  which  each  aimed  to  attain. 

To  and  fro — from  the  heights  around  Alexandria,  whence  the 
soaring  dome  of  the  National  capitol  loomed  up  before  the  Con 
federate's  vision,  back  to  these  memorable  fields  around  Rich 
mond,  whence  the  Federal  pickets  sighted  its  tempting  spires — 
rolled  the  incessant  tides  of  battle,  with  alternations  of  success, 
until  all  Northern  Virginia  became  upheaved  with  entrenchments, 
billowed  with  graves,  saturated  with  blood,  seared  with  fire, 
stripped  to  desolation,  and  kneaded  under  the  feet,  hoofs  and 
wheels  of  the  marching  columns. 

At  the  first  battle  of  Manassas  the  cordon  of  fortifications 
around  Washington  prevented  a  rout  from  becoming  an  annihi 
lation,  and  that  battle  only  decided  that  other  battles  would  be 
needed  to  decide  anything. 

At  Williamsburg,  McClellan,  who  succeeded  McDowell,  the 
displaced  commander  of  Manassas,  received  a  sharp  rebuff,  which 
decided  nothing  but  that  the  antagonists  would  have  to  close 
together. 

At  Seven  Pines  the  fall  of  our  skillful  General  Joseph  E.  John 
ston,  at  a  critical  moment,  and  the  consequent  delay  which  en 
abled  Sedgwick  to  cross  the  swollen  waters  of  the  Chickahominy, 
ended  the  prospect  of  making  that  more  than  a  field  of  gallant 
and  brilliant  endeavor. 

At  Malvern  Hill  a  curious  mistake,  which  led  one  subordinate 
to  pursue  a  wrong  road,  and  the  lamentable  delay  of  others,  com 
bined  with  the  really  valorous  defence  of  that  key-position,  ex- 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  93 

tinguished  the  high  tide  of  victory  in  the  volcanic  fires  of  that 
battery-crowned  summit,  and  closed  with  the  escape  of  the  enemy 
to  his  gunboats  and  the  disappointment  of  his  adversary. 

The  second  field  of  Manassas,  in  which  the  redoubtable  John 
Pope,  who,  having  seen  before  "only  the  backs  of  his  enemies," 
entered  the  fact  of  record  that  his  curiosity  was  entirely  satiated 
with  a  single  glimpse  of  their  faces,  was  only  the  prelude  of  a 
more  deadly  struggle  at  Sharpsburg;  and  as  Manassas  only  de 
cided  that  it  would  require  another  effort  of  the  Federal  army  to 
beat  us  on  our  own  soil,  Sharpsburg  only  decided  that  we  would 
have  to  gird  our  loins  once  more  to  overwhelm  it  upon  its  own. 

At  Fredericksburg  in  December,  1862,  Burnsidc,  having  blindly 
hurled  his  army  against  Lee's  entrenchments,  managed  to  repeat 
the  manoeuvre  of  the  French  King,  who  "marched  up  the  hill 
and  down  again" — and  to  regain  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Rap- 
pahannock  without  a  foot  of  ground  lost  or  won — leaving  that 
ill-starred  field  behind  him  as  a  memorial  of  nothing  but  wasted 
life  and  courage  on  the  one  side,  and  cool,  steady,  self-poised  in 
trepidity  on  the  other. 

And  at  Chancellorsville,  in  the  spring  of  1863,  when  Hooker 
assailed  by  flank  the  same  field  which  Burnside  charged  in  front, 
a  famous  stroke  of  generalship,  directed  by  Lee  and  executed 
by  Jackson,  placed  him  side  by  side  on  the  stool  of  penitence 
with  his  predecessor.  But  there  a  great  calamity  planted  a  thorn 
in  the  crown  of  victory,  gave  pause  to  the  advance  of  the  con 
quering  banner,  and  turned  to  safe  retreat  what  promised  to  be 
the  rout  and  annihilation  of  the  Federal  army.  That  calamity 
was  the  fall  of  "Stonewall"  Jackson — Lee's  incomparble  lieuten 
ant — whose  genius  had  shed  undying  lustre  on  the  Confederate 
arms  and  before  whose  effigy  to-day  the  two  worlds  bow  in  honor. 

And  so  the  end  of  two  years  found  the  two  armies  still  pitted 
against  each  other  in  the  same  arena,  with  proud  Washington 
behind  the  one,  still  egging  it  to  the  attack  for  the  honor  of  the 
old  flag  and  the  solidarity  of  the  Union;  and  defiant  Richmond 
still  behind  the  other,  upholding  it  with  words  and  deeds  of 
cheer,  and  bidding  it  never  to  weary  in  well  doing  for  the  cause 
of  liberty  and  Confederate  independence. 

THE    CRISIS    OF     1863. 

But  while  the  status  of  the  combatants  in  Virginia  had  re 
ceived  no  decisive  change,  it  became  obvious  in  the  spring  of 
1863  that  an  hour  big  with  destiny  \vas  near  at  hand.  The 
Army  of  the  Potomac  had  become  disheartened  by  continuous 
adversity.  Five  chosen  chieftains — McDowell,  McClellan,  Pope, 


94  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Burnside,  Hooker — had  led  it  to  battle  in  superb  array;  but  its 
ranks  had  only  been  recruited  to  march  again  to  defeat  and 
decimation.  The  term  of  enlistment  of  nearly  forty  thousand  of 
its  rank  and  file  had  now  expired,*  and  as  they  marched  to  the 
rear,  homeward  bound,  no  counter  column  was  moving  to  sup 
ply  their  vacant  places.  With  the  Northern  people  hope  of  vic 
tory  deferred  had  made  the  heart  sick  of  strife,  and  the  "  Copper 
head"  faction,  like  the  Republicans  of  Paris  when  Napoleon  was 
marching  against  the  allied  armies  of  Waterloo,  was  agitating 
schemes  against  the  Government  and  the  prolongation  of  the 
war.  The  paper  currency,  like  a  thermometer  on  the  stock  ex 
change,  showed  that  the  pulse  of  the  popular  faith  was  beating 
low.  Factory  hands,  without  cotton  to  spin,  cried  for  bread,  and 
were  not  content  to  take  muskets  and  go  to  the  feast  of  blood. 
Foreign  powers  had  lost  confidence  in  Mr.  Seward's  three- 
months'  promissory  notes  of  victory,  which  had  so  often  been 
renewed  and  had  now  gone  to  protest;  and  it  is  said  that  our 
diplomatic  agents  abroad  authoritatively  announced  that  should 
Lee  establish  now  a  lodgment  in  the  North,  his  triumph  should 
be  greeted  with  the  long-sought  boon  of  foreign  recognition. 

On  the  Confederate  side  our  line  of  battle,  although  in  the 
east  unbroken,  was  but  an  iron  shell  with  emptiness  within. 
Hungry  mobs  had  been  rioting  through  Richmond  with  the  fear 
ful  cry  of ''Bread !"  ''Bread!"  The  plantations  had  not  only 
been  swept  of  their  provender,  but  the  tillers  of  the  soil  and 
their  beasts  of  burden  had  likewise  been  absorbed  into  the  ranks 
of  war.  And  to  increase  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  our  W^est- 
ern  horizon  was  overhung  with  omens  of  disaster.  There  the 
progress  of  the  Union  arms  had  been  steadily  forward.  Missouri, 
Kentucky  and  parts  of  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  had  been  con 
quered.  Along  the  Mississippi  river,  Columbus,  Island  No.  10, 
Fort  Pillow,  Memphis  and  New  Orleans  had  fallen;  and  now 
Vicksburg,  a  solitary  sentinel  upon  its  banks,  alone  prevented 
the  Father  of  Waters  from  "rolling  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

This  post,  like  a  ligature  upon  an  artery,  severed  the  Federal 
line  of  military  communication  from  the  Northwest  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  isolated  the  Western  States  from  their  markets. 
Its  early  conquest  was  foreshadowed,  and  with  that  the  Northern 
heart  would  be  again  fired  with  hope  and  a  blow  struck  into  the 
very  vitals  of  the  Confederacy. 

*See  volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  95 


THE    PROJECT    OF    INVASION. 

Could  the  hitherto  invincible  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  now 
launch  forth  a  telling  blow  against  its  adversary,  and  anticipate 
the  bursting  of  the  storm  cloud  in  the  West  by  a  sunburst  of  de 
cisive  victory  in  the  East,  disaster  there  would  be  counterbalanced, 
if  not  forestalled  and  prevented.  The  peace  party  of  the  North 
would  be  reinforced  in  numbers  and  strengthened  in  resolution; 
recruits  would  be  deterred  from  enrolling  under  the  blighted  ban 
ners  of  defeat;  the  bonds  and  Treasury  notes  of  the  United 
States  would  rapidly  decline  in  value,  thus  relaxing  the  sinews  of 
war;  and  foreign  powers,  hungry  for  cotton,  and  weary  of  idle 
factories  and  freightless  ships  and  marketless  wares,  would  stretch 
forth  the  hand  of  recognition,  and  welcome  the  young  battle- 
crowned  Confederacy  into  the  family  of  nations.  The  broad 
military  mind  of  General  Lee  full}-  compassed  the  crisis,  and  he 
boldly  projected  the  scheme  of  forcing  Hooker  from  his  position 
opposite  to  Fredericksburg,  expelling  Milroy  from  the  Valley,  and, 
to  use  his  language,  "transferring  the  scene  of  hostilities  beyond 
the  Potomac." 

THE    SEQUEL    AT    GETTVSnURr,. 

The  sequel  of  this  plan  of  operations  was  the  battle  of  Gettys 
burg,  fought  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country.  There  for 
three  days  the  two  armies  wrestled  over  hill  and  plain  in  terrific 
struggle.  There,  on  the  third  day,  the  most  magnificent  charge 
of  infantry  known  in  the  annals  of  modern  war,  closed  with  the 
bloody  repulse  of  the  Confederate  assaulting  column. 

And  while  Lee  was  marshaling  his  troops  in  front  of  Cemetery 
Ridge,  the  white  flag  was  flying  over  Pemberton's  works  at 
Vicksburg. 

Those  memorable  days  marked  the  meridian  of  the  Confede 
rate  cause.  It  was  not  then  extinguished,  but  its  sun  paled  and 
descended  slowly tto  its  setting. 

As  the  water-shed  of  the  Alleghanies  is  the  division  line 
between  the  waters  which  flow  eastward  into  the  Atlantic  ocean 
and  those  which  empty  into  the  Gulf  through  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  so  Cemetery  Ridge  marks  the  turning  point  of  the  tides 
of  battle.  Up  to  that  rugged  crest  they  rolled  in  triumph,  pour 
ing  the  trophies  of  victory  into  the  lap  of  the  Confederacy. 
Beyond  they  rolled  in  sullen  and  gloomy  turbulence  toward  the 
final  catastrophe  of  Appomattox. 

These  considerations  induced  me,  comrades,  to  invite  your 
attention  to  the  campaign  of  Gettysburg. 


96  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

I  know  it  requires  no  little  courage  to  fight  a  battle  "  o'er  again  " 
— but  those  whose  valor  deserved  success  need  never  shrink  from 
the  memory  of  adversity. 

PRELIMINARY    MOVEMENTS    IN    VIRGINIA. 

On  June  3,  1863,  General  Lee  broke  his  camp  before  Fred- 
ericksburg;  and  leaving  Hill's  corps  to  watch  Hooker's  army, 
which  was  separated  from  it  only  by  the  Rappahannock  river,  turned 
the  heads  of  Longstreet's  and  E  well's  corps  northward.  His 
design  was  to  draw  Hooker  out  into  the  open  field  and  defeat 
him  before  crossing  the  Potomac.  But  in  this  he  was  disappointed, 
not  so  much  by  the  skill  of  his  adversary  as  by  the  absence  of 
harmony  in  his  councils. 

Hooker's  plan  was  to  cross  the  Rappahannock,  fall  upon  Hill 
with  his  whole  army,  and  then  make  a  bold  push  for  Richmond. 
Had  he  made  this  effort  Lee  intended  to  take  him  in  flank;  and 
the  result  I  scarcely  think  would  have  been  doubtful.  But  Mr. 
Lincoln  positively  forbade  Hooker  to  make  this  attempt,  quaintly 
saying  that  he  (Hooker)  would  thus  become  "entangled  upon  the 
river  like  an  ox  jumped  half  over  a  fence,  and  liable  to  be  torn 
by  dogs  front  and  rear  without  a  fair  chance  to  gore  one  way  or 
kick  the  other."  On  the  contrary,  Lincoln  desired  Hooker  to 
attack  Lee's  army  while  stretched  out  on  the  line  of  march; 
and  on  the  I4th  of  June,  the  very  day  that  our  vanguard  struck 
Milroy  at  Winchester,  we  find  him  sending  Hooker  another 
characteristic  message  from  Washington : 

" Major-General  Hooker — So  far  as  we  can  make  out  here  the 
enemy  have  Milroy  surrounded  at  Winchester  and  Tyler  at  Mar- 
tinsburg.  If  they  could  hold  out  a  few  days  could  you  help  them  ? 
If  the  head  of  Lee's  army  is  at  Martinsburg  and  the  tail  of  it  on 
the  plank  road  between  Fredericksburg  and  Chancellorsville  the 
animal  must  be  very  slim  somewhere.* 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

So  it  happened  that  Lincoln,  not  liking  Hooker's  plan,  nor 
Hooker  Lincoln's  (which  was  concurred  in  by  Halleck,  com- 
mander-in-chief  at  Washington),  neither  was  adopted.  And 
Hooker  contented  himself  (after  sending  a  corps  south  of  the 
Rappahannock  and  then  withdrawing  it)  with  falling  back  to  the 
vicinity  of  Fairfax  Courthouse  and  closely  hugging  his  entrench 
ments. 

*  See  Volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  260. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  97 

In  these  preliminary  movements  all  the  advantage  in  general 
ship  and  in  results  was  on  the  Confederate  side.  Hooker  has 
been  much  complimented  for  supposed  skill  in  his  manoeuvres, 
but  they  were  the  result  of  his  quarrel  with  Lincoln,  and  not  of 
design;  and  the  reports  show  that  he  was  in  a  state  of  great  per 
plexity  and  indecision,  on  one  day  dispatching  to  the  Government 
his  opinion  that  invasion  was  Lee's  "settled  purpose"  and  "an  act 
of  desperation,"*  and  two  days  later  suggesting  that  the  move 
ment  was  a  mere  cavalry  raid,  "a  cover  to  Lee's  reinforcing 
Bragg  or  moving  troops  to  the  West."f 

LEE'S    MARCH    TO    PENNSYLVANIA. 

While  Hooker  thus  crouched  under  his  heavy  works,  Lee 
marched  triumphantly  toward  the  Potomac;  and  on  the  I4th  of 
June  the  first  laurel  of  the  campaign  was  plucked  by  Ewcll  at 
Winchester,  where  a  brilliant  flank  movement,  conceived  by  Gen 
eral  Early  and  executed  by  his  division,  with  the  co-operation  of 
Johnson's,  resulted  in  the  capture  of  that  place  with  four  thou 
sand  prisoners,  twenty-three  pieces  of  artillery,  three  hundred 
wagons,  three  hundred  horses,  and  an  immense  supply  of  much- 
needed  stores  and  munitions. 

On  the  same  day  General  Rodes  captured  at  Martinsburg  one 
hundred  prisoners  and  five  pieces  of  cannon;  and  thus  the  great 
Northern  highway,  "the  Valley  pike,"  was  cleared  of  all  obstruc 
tions  and  the  gate  to  Pennsylvania  thrown  open. 

On  the  1 5th  of  June  General  Jenkins  with  his  cavalry  crossed 
the  Potomac.  Within  the  next  ten  days  the  three  infantry  corps 
of  our  army,  under  Longstreet,  Ewell  and  A.  P.  Hill,  likewise 
crossed,  and  on  the  24th  of  June  the  whole  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  in  magnificent  fighting  trim  and  flush  with  victory, 
stood  upon  the  enemy's  soil. 

THE    MOVEMENTS    OF    THE    CAVALRY. 

While  these  movements  were  progressing,  the  cavalry  under 
Stuart  had  several  times  crossed  sabres  with  the  troopers  of 
Pleasanton,  without  detriment  to  their  own  reputation  or  that  of 
their  General.  And  in  leaving  Virginia  with  his  main  force, 
General  Lee  had  taken  every  precaution  to  utilize  these  "eyes 
and  ears"  of  the  army  by  sending  them  to  watch  and  impede 
Hooker's  movements.  His  orders  to  General  Stuart  were  "to 
guard  the  passes  of  the  mountains  and  observe  the  movements 

*  See  volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  101.  t  See  same  work,  page  271. 


90  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

of  the  enemy,  whom  he  was  instructed  to  harass  and  impede  as 
much  as  possible  should  he  attempt  to  cross  the  Potomac.  In 
that  event  General  Stuart  was  directed  to  move  into  Maryland, 
crossing  the  Potomac  east  or  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  as  in  his 
judgment  should  be  best,  and  take  position  on  the  right  of  our 
column  as  it  advanced."  (Lee's  first  report.) 

In  operating  under  these  instructions,  an  untoward  circum 
stance  occurred,  which  eliminated  the  cavalry  from  the  available 
forces  of  Lee  at  a  time  when  he  most  needed  it.  Stuart  had 
followed  closely  upon  the  rear  of  Hooker  in  Fairfax  and  Loud- 
oun  counties,  when,  upon  the  24th  of  June,  the  latter  determined 
to  fall  back  no  further,  and  suddenly  threw  his  army  forward  into 
Maryland  to  seize  the  Turner's  and  Crampton's  gaps  of  South 
mountains,  near  Boonsboro',  which  covered  the  line  of  advance 
from  Lee's  army  to  Baltimore  through  Frederick,  Maryland.* 

The  effect  though  not  the  design  of  this  movement  was  to 
throw  Hooker  between  Stuart  and  Lee;  and  as  the  former  was 
crossing  the  Potomac  at  Edwards'  ferry,  near  Leesburg,  it  became 
necessary  for  Stuart  to  make  a  wide  detour  south  in  order  to 
cross  above  him,  or  to  cut  in  between  Hooker  and  Washington, 
and  pass  northward,  in  order  to  rejoin  his  Commander.  Acting 
within  the  discretion  given  him  (and  not  otherwise,  as  some  have 
supposed),  Stuart  adopted  the  latter  route  as  the  shortest,  cross 
ing  at  Seneca  Falls. f 

But,  unfortunately,  Hooker  continued  his  march  northward, 
continuously  interposing  himself  before  Stuart;  and  thus,  when 
he  had  advanced  so  far  as  to  be  right  upon  the  flank  of  Lee's 
only  line  of  retreat  to  Virginia,  the  latter,  who  had  distributed 
his  forces  near  Chambersburg,  Carlisle  and  York,  was  utterly 
ignorant  of  the  enemy's  movements,  and,  receiving  no  message 
from  Stuart,  supposed  that  Hooker  still  remained  on  the  Virginia 
side  of  the  Potomac. 

LEE'S    CONCENTRATION    FOR    BATTLE. 

On  the  night  of  June  28th  (not  the  2Qth,  as  stated  in  Lee's 
first  report),  a  cavalry  scout  of  General  Longstreet's  rode  into 
that  officer's  headquarters,  near  Chambersburg,  with  the  momen 
tous  tidings  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  crossed  the  river 
and  was  then  gathering  near  Frederick,  Maryland.  Hooker  was 
thus  in  position  to  seize  the  South  mountain  passes  and  cut  off 
Lee's  communications.  General  Lee  was  at  the  time  about  to 
push  forward  and  capture  Harrisburg,  the  capital  of  Pennsylva- 

*See  volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  169. 

t  See  G-jiieral  Lee's  second  report  in  Southern  Magazine  for  August,  1872,  page  210. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  99 

nia,  scarce  a  day's  march  distant,  which,  being  defended  by  mili 
tia  mainly,  under  General  Couch,  could  not  have  withstood  the 
assault  of  our  veteran  troops.  But  with  Hooker  thus  on  his 
flank  and  rear,  the  continuance  of  the  scheme  became  hazardous, 
and  he  determined  at  once  to  concentrate  his  army  east  of  the 
mountains,  thus  threatening  Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  in 
order  to  deter  the  enemy,  to  use  his  language,  ''from  advancing 
further  west  and  intercepting  our  communications  with  Virginia." 
Accordingly  the  movement  against  Harrisburg  was  abandoned, 
and  the  next  day  General  Lee  issued  orders  for  the  concentra 
tion  of  all  liis  troops  at  Cashtown,  a  village  five  miles  from  Gettys 
burg,  and  on  the  direct  road  which  passes  through  that  place  to 
Baltimore. 


The  report  of  Longstreet's  scout  was  true,  anil  Lee  had  keenly 
divined  his  enemy's  intentions;  for  Hooker  had  moved  forward 
into  Maryland  and  had  given  directions  to  General  Reynolds, 
who  commanded  the  right  wing  of  the  army,  to  seize  the  moun 
tain  passes  which  have  been  mentioned,  and  to  take  position  at 
Middletown,  in  rear  of  them,  in  the  valley  between  the  South 
mountain  and  the  Catoctin  range.  At  the  same  time  he  had 
himself  gone  to  Harper's  Ferry,  whence  he  proposed  to  move 
with  the  Twefth  corps  and  the  garrison  there  of  eleven  thousand 
men  directly  upon  \Yilliamsport,  thus  severing  Lee's  line  of 
communication  to  Virginia,  and  stopping  the  transit  of  supplies 
which  he  was  sending  back  in  immense  quantities  from  Pennsyl 
vania. 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  June  he  had  seated  himself  and 
was  engaged  in  writing  an  order  for  the  abandonment  of  that 
post  at  daylight,  with  a  view  to  proceeding  with  this  plan  of  ope 
rations.  But  just  at  that  moment  a  dispatch  was  received  from 
General  Halleck,  requiring  the  garrison  to  remain  there.  The 
latter  officer,  whose  self-conceit  was  only  equalled  by  his  inca 
pacity,  excited  the  indignation  of  Hooker  by  thus  trammeling 
him,  while  in  the  face  of  Lee's  army,  with  instructions  full  of  foil}-; 
for  Harper's  Ferry,  at  this  juncture,  was  a  strategic  point  of  no 
earthly  consequence,  and  rather  than  submit  to  such  interfer 
ence  he  at  once  requested  to  be  relieved  of  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  His  request  was  at  once  granted. 

GENERAL    MEADE. 

On  the  night  of  the  same  day,  Major-General  G.  C.  Meade, 
commanding  the  Fifth  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was 


ICO  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

asleep  in  his  tent  near  Frederick,  Maryland,  when  he  was  aroused 
by  General  Hardie,  a  bearer  of  dispatches  from  Washington. 
Meade,  who  had  severely  criticised  Hooker  for  his  alleged  inca 
pacity  at  Chancellorsville,  supposed  that  he  was  about  to  be 
placed  under  arrest  by  that  officer,  who  had  threatened  to  do  so, 
and  he  immediately  inquired  of  Genral  Hardie  if  he  came  for 
that  purpose.  The  latter,  evading  the  question,  struck  a  light 
and  placed  in  his  hand  an  order  directing  him  to  assume  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  ''and  committing  to  him  all 
the  powers  of  the  Executive  and  the  constitution,  to  the  end 
that  he  might  wield  untrammeled  all  the  resources  of  the  nation 
to  meet  the  emergency  of  the  invasion." 

On  the  next  day,  June  28th,  while  yet  Lee  was  threatening 
Harrisburg,  Meade  assumed  command  ;  and  on  the  29th,  ignorant 
that  Lee  had  abandoned  that  movement,  he  determined  to  move 
at  once  from  the  vicinity  of  Federick  toward  Harrisburg,  to 
compel  L^e  (to  use  Meade's  language)  "to  loose  his  hold  on  the 
Susquehannah  and  meet  him  in  battle  at  some  point."  Accord 
ingly,  on  the  very  day  that  Lee's  columns  moved  eastward 
toward  Baltimore,  in  order  to  counteract  a  supposed  manoeuvre 
upon  his  communications,  Meade,  equally  ignorant  of  his  antag 
onist's  change  of  front,  moved  northward  to  stay  a  supposed 
advance  upon  Harrisburg.  And  adding  to  these  complications, 
Stuart,  who  had  swept  around  Meade's  flank,  was  at  the  same 
time  moving  toward  Carlisle,  he  himself  being  as  ignorant  of 
Lee's  intentions  as  Meade,  and  supposing  that  he  would  find  his 
Commander  upon  the  line  of  the  Susquehannah.  Now,  right  in 
the  line  of  Meade's  northward  march,  and  of  Lee's  eastward 
march,  lies  the  old-fashioned  town  of  Gettysburg,  and  to  that 
point  the  two  hostile  forces  were  now  converging,  each  in  utter 
darkness  as  to  the  other's  movements,  and  little  imagining  that 
that  sequestered  hamlet  was  destined  to  become  the  scene  of  a 
tremendous  struggle,  which  would  make  its  name  resound 
throughout  the  ages  as  memorable  as  that  of  Waterloo. 

THE    3OTH    OF    JUNE. 

The  3Oth  of  June  was  a  day  of  busy  preparation.  On  that 
day  the  new  commander  of  the  Federal  Army  issued  his  orders 
of  march,  directing  the  seven  corps  of  which  his  forces  were 
composed  to  move  as  follows:  The  Third  to  Fmmettsburg, 
Second  to  Taneytown,  Fifth  to  Hanover,  Twelfth  to  Two  Tav 
erns,  Sixth  to  Manchester,  while  the  First  and  Eleventh,  con 
stituting,  with  the  Third,  the  right  wing,  under  Reynolds,  were 
to  proceed  with  Buford's  cavalry  division  to  Gettysburg.  That 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  IOI 

•same  morning,  Pettigrew's  brigade,  of  Heth's  division,  Hill's 
corps,  which  had  deen  ordered  to  Gettysburg  to  procure  shoes 
and  supplies,  approached  that  place  on  the  Cashtown  road,  and 
its  head  of  column  had  reached  the  crest  of  Seminary  Ridge, 
within  easy  cannon-shot  of  the  town,  when  at  the  same  time  the 
advance  of  Buford's  cavalry  reached  the  town  from  the  opposite 
direction.*  The  Confederate  brigade  retired  to  Cashtown,  some 
five  miles  distant,  and  Buford,  occupying  the  place,  established 
his  division  in  front,  along  or  near  the  line  of  Willoughby  run, 
covering  the  approaches  to  it  by  the  Chambersburg,  Mummas- 
burg,  Carlisle  and  Harrisburg  roads.  General  Reynolds,  with  the 
First  and  Eleventh  corps,  came  at  the  same  time  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  Gettysburg,  on  the  Kmmettsburg  road,  and  halted  for 
the  night.  That  evening  Meade  became  satisfied,  from  tidings 
received,  that  Lee  was  moving  towards  Gettysburg;  but  neither 
he  nor  General  Lee  seem  to  have  had  any  knowledge  of  the 
great  strategic  consequence  of  that  place;  and  the  latter,  still 
without  report  from  his  cavalry,  fitly  termed  the  "eyes  of  the 
army,"  was  groping  like  a  blind  Titan  for  his  enemy,  unconscious 
that  Meade's  advance  columns  were  within  a  few  hours'  march  of 
his  own. 

Such  is  war — a  game  of  skill   and   chance — a   game   of  chess, . 
and  "blind  man's  buff"  compounded  together. 

THE    FIRST    DAY    OF    JULY. 

With  the  dawn  of  July  1st,  Heth's  and  Fender's  divisions  of 
Hill's  corps  sallied  forth  from  Cashtown  to  reconnoitre  and  assail 
the  force  seen  by  Pettigrew  the  day  before;  and  at  the  same  time 
Rodes'  and  Early's  divisions  started  for  Cashtown  from  Heidlers- 
burg,  where  they  had  rested  the  preceding  night.  Longstreet's 
corps  slowly  brought  up  Lee's  rear  from  Chambersburg,  and 
Johnson's  division  was  yet  over  the  mountains,  near  Greencastle 
and  Scotland,  with  Ewell's  reserve  artillery.  A  little  before  ten 
o'clock  Hill's  advance  came  up  with  Buford's  cavalrymen,  who 
were  dismounted  and  posted  as  infantry;  and  a  skirmish  com 
menced,  which  swelled  into  a  combat;  a  combat,  which  swelled 
into  the  greatest  battle  ever  fought  on  this  continent — for  there, 
unconsciously  to  all,  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  began.  Hill  ad 
vanced  cautiously,  supposing  that  he  fought  infantry,  and  for  two 
hours  there  were  sharp  passages  between  the  contestants  without 
important  results. 

From  the  steeple  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  which   gives 

*  G jueral  H.  Heth  confirms  this  statement. 


IO2  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

name  to  the  ridge  in  front  of  which  Buford's  troops  were  in  line> 
the  signal  officer  of  that  General  at  this  moment  discerned  in  the 
distance  the  corps  headquarters  flag  of  Reynolds,  and  Buford  him 
self,  sighting  the  telescope,  recognized  that  succor  was  coming, 
and  exclaimed,  "We  can  now  hold  the  place."  In  a  few  moments 
Reynolds  himself  dashed  up,  and  swiftly  after  him  the  First  corps, 
under  Doubleday,  came  pouring  across  the  fields,  and  in  a  short 
time  a  desperate  engagement  was  raging  along  the  line.  Reyn 
olds  at  once  dispatched  for  the  Eleventh  corps,  of  Howard,  and 
the  Third,  of  Sickles,  which  were  a  few  miles  away,  to  hasten  to 
the  field.  But  while  they  were  being  summoned  to  the  rescue, 
the  intonations  of  cannon  had  reached  the  ears  of  Ewell,  Rodes 
and  Early.  No  other  than  these  ''sightless  couriers  of  the  air" 
needed  they,  and,  turning  off  from  the  Cashtown  road,  those 
gallant  soldiers  pushed  on  their  columns  toward  the  booming  of 
the  guns.  Howard's  leading  brigades  had  scarcely  strengthened 
the  lines  of  Doubleday,  when  Rodes  came  thundering  upon  his 
front,  and  until  two  o'clock  the  contending  forces  charged  and 
countercharged,  each  fighting  with  an  ardor  worthy  of  the  great 
stake  that  was  trembling  in  the  balance. 

THE    ADVANCE    OF    EARLY. 

If  you  will  look  at  the  map  you  will  perceive  that  the  Union 
line  of  battle,  parallel  with  Seminary  Ridge,  ran  almost  due  north 
and  south.  The  road  from  Heidlersburg  to  Gettysburg  strikes 
this  position  right  on  the  rear  of  the  right  flank,  and  on  this  road 
Early's  veterans — their  steps  quickened  by  every  note  of  the 
guns — were  pressing  on,  with  all  the  celerity  which  had  earned 
some  of  them  under  Jackson  the  soubriquet  of  the  "  foot-cavalry 
of  the  Valley." 

It  was  about  two  o'clock.  General  Early  rode  at  the  division 
head  with  his  staff.  A  heavy  mist  was  falling,  and  the  hot  sun 
of  July  subdued  by  its  refreshing  moisture.  As  we  neared  the 
scene  of  conflict  a  few  cavalry  pickets  scampered  off.  When 
reaching  an  eminence  about  a  mile  from  the  town  at  once  the 
glorious  panorama  of  battle  was  spread  before  our  eyes;  and 
indeed  it  was — 

"  A  glorious  sight  to  see 
To  him  who  had  no  friend,  no  brother  there." 

Aye!  more  glorious  still  to  those  whose  friends  and  brothers 
iccrc  there — making  the  field  radiant  with  deeds  worthy  of  old 
Sparta's  time,  when  there  were  giant's  upon  the  earth. 

Just  in  front,  nestling  on  the  slope  of  Cemetery  Hill,  lay  Get- 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  1 03 

tysburg.  Fields,  rich  with  the  summer  harvests  and  dotted  with 
cosy,  rustic  homes,  stretched  forth  in  our  front,  while  on  the 
right  of  the  town,  scarce  a  mile  distant,  wreathed  in  the  smoke 
of  batteries  and  battalions,  could  be  distinctly  seen  the  long  lines 
of  Confederate  gray  and  Union  blue,  now  rushing  to  the  charge, 
now  pouring  volleys  into  each  other's  bosoms,  now  commingled 
in  undistinguishable  tnclt\\  while  ever  and  anon  there  rose  over 
the  sullen  roar  of  musketry  and  cannon  the  mechanical  "Hip, 
hip!  hurrah!"  of  the  Federal  infantry,  or  soared  aloft  that  sound 
once  heard,  never  to  be  forgotten — the  clear,  sonorous,  hearty, 
soul-stirring  ring  of  the  Confederate  cheer.  General  Farly  saw 
with  a  glance  that  he  was  right  on  the  Federal  flank,  and  that  a 
charge  with  his  division  would  settle  the  fortunes  of  the  day. 
"Tell  Gordon,  Hays,  A  very  and  Smith  to  double-quick  to  the 
front,"  said  he,  "and  open  the  lines  of  infantry  for  the  artillery 
to  pass."  Scarce  said  but  done.  Colonel  Hilary  P.  Jones,  with 
his  batteries,  came  thundering  to  the  front,  with  his  horses  at  a 
run;  and  with  their  men  at  a  double-quick,  Gordon,  Hays  and 
Avery  (commanding  Hoke's  brigade)  deployed  right  and  left, 
while  gallant  old  "Extra  Billy"  Smith  formed  in  reserve.  As 
Jones'  guns  were  getting  into  position,  a  battery  at  the  gallop 
took  post  in  front,  and  General  Howard,  whose  corps  was  on 
the  Federal  right,  stretched  it  out  and  bent  it  around  to  head  off 
this  portentous  movement.  Midway  between  us  and  the  town 
flowed  a  little  creek  with  rugged,  wooded  banks,  and  as  our 
troops  were  double-quicking  forward  into  line,  Barlow's  division 
was  forming  behind  this  stream  to  meet  them.  Riding  behind 
Gordon's  brigade,  we  heard  the  ringing  voice  of  the  gallant 
Georgian  as  he  shouted,  "  Forward,  Georgians!  "  And  steadily 
forward  across  the  yellow  wheat  fields  we  saw  the  line  of 
Georgians,  Louisianians  and  Carolinians  roll,  their  burnished 
bayonets  making  a  silver  wave  across  a  cloth  of  gold.  Now 
they  disappear  in  the  copse  of  woods  along  the  stream ;  then 
comes  the  wild  cheer  and  the  crashing  volley,  and  a  cloud  of 
smoke  wraps  the  combatants;  a  moment  more  and  the  open 
fields  beyond  were  filled  with  the  heavy,  disordered  masses  of 
Howard's  corps  flying  in  wild  confusion.  The  slaughter  was 
terrific.  In  front  of  Gordon,  where  Barlow  was  aligned,  lay  a 
line  of  wounded  and  dead  men  who  had  fallen  as  they  stood,  and 
in  their  midst  lay  Barlow  himself  sorely  stricken.  Not  Dessaix 
at  Marengo,  nor  Blucher  at  Waterloo,  struck  a  more  decisive 
blow.  The  Federal  flank  had  been  shriveled  up  as  a  scroll,  and 
the  whole  force  gave  way.  On  all  sides,  pouring  up  the  slopes 
into  Gettysburg,  fled  the  broken  host,  while  closely  at  their  heels 
followed  Hill  and  Rodes  on  the  one  side  and  Early  on  the  other. 


IO4  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

At  this  time  a  band  of  Rodes'  division  struck  up  a  soul-stirring 
strain,  and  with  triumphant  music  chiming  in  with  the  sharp 
rattle  of  the  pursuing  muskets,  the  Confederates  drove  their 
beaten  enemy  into  and  through  the  streets  of  the  captured  town. 

IN    GETTYSBURG. 

Reaching  the  town,  the  joyous  veterans  of  the  Second  corps 
exclaimed,  as  their  officers  passed  along  their  lines,  "  Let  us  go 
on ! "  General  Early,  the  first  officer  of  his  rank  to  reach  the 
place,  at  once  sought  General  Ewell  to  urge  "an  immediate 
advance  upon  the  enemy  before  he  could  recover  from  his  evi 
dent  dismay";  but  before  he  could  be  found,  a  report  came  from 
General  (better  known  as  "Extra  Billy")  Smith,  that  a  heavy 
column  of  infantry,  artillery  and  cavalry  was  marching  upon  our 
left  flank  on  the  York  road.  Gordon's  brigade  had  to  be  de 
tached  to  go  the  threatened  point,  and  this  for  a  time  diverted 
attention  from  the  pursuit.  General  Early,  not  finding  Ewell, 
sent  a  messenger  to  General  A.  P.  Hill  urging  that  an  immediate 
advance  be  made  upon  the  enemy,  who  had  fallen  back  to  the 
heights  beyond  the  town. 

In  the  meantime,  General  Ewell  came  up,  and  he  at  once  re 
solved  to  seize  a  wooded  height  called  Gulp's  Hill,  which  com 
manded  the  enemy's  position  on  the  left,  as  soon  as  Johnson's 
division,  yet  absent,  should  arrive. 

Between  five  and  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  "rough  and 
ready"  looking  soldier,  bronzed-face,  with  a  heavy  staff  in  his 
hand,  which  looked  as  combative  as  an  Irishman's  shillalah,  rode 
up  to  our  lines,  and  behind  him,  covered  with  the  stains  of  a 
rapid  march,  came  streaming  along,  with  faces  eager  for  the  fray, 
the  famous  soldiers  of  the  old  Stonewall  division,  now  under 
General  Edward  Johnson — "  Old  Alleghany,"  as  they  loved  to 
call  him — who  looked,  as  he  rode  with  his  heavy  club  at  their 
head,  as  if  he  could  thrash  out  an  army  himself  with  that  ponderous 
weapon. 

Now,  thought  our  gallant  men,  who  were  chafing  to  be  un 
leashed,  we  shall  go  on;  now,  thought  all,  the  tide  has  come 
which  "taken  at  its  flood  leads  on  to  fortune";  but  in  the  mean 
time  the  enemy  sent  forward  a  line  of  infantry  and  occupied  the 
hill  which  Ewell  designed  to  seize.  Our  artillery,  from  the 
nature  of  the  field,  could  not  be  served  to  advantage,  and  the 
report  was  revived  that  a  column  was  moving  upon  our  left  flank. 
This  report  was  utterly  groundless,  but  before  it  could  be  sifted 
and  Johnson's  division  gotten  into  position,  darkness  had  thrown 
its  protecting  wings  over  the  shattered  Federal  lines.  And  so 
the  tide  went  by. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  IO5 


SHOULD    WE    HAVE    PRESSED    OX? 

It  has  been  the  almost  universal  sentiment  of  soldiers  and 
civilians  that  a  great  blunder  was  made  in  not  pressing  on  after 
the  enemy  when  he  was  driven  through  Gettysburg,  and  Gene 
rals  Ewell  and  Lee  have  both  been  sharply  criticised  for  halting. 

"Never,"  says  Mr.  Swinton,  one  of  the  best  war  writers,  "was 
pause  at  the  door  of  victory  more  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  a  com 
mander."* 

It  is  true  there  existed  many  temptations  to  press  the  pursuit. 
We  had  met  the  enemy  for  the  first  time  on  the  soil  of  a  North 
ern  State  and  disastrously  routed  two  corps  of  his  army,  with  a 
loss  to  them  of  two  cannon  and  nearly  five  thousand  prisoners, f 
and  how  shattered  their  remnants  must  have  been  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  the  Eleventh  corps,  which  mustered  seven  thou 
sand  four  hundred  muskets  that  morning,  could  scarcely  count 
half  that  number  that  night;  while  the  First  was  reduced  from 
eight  thousand  two  hundred  to  two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty — scarcely  a  fouth  being  left.  But  General  Lee's  situation 
was  a  peculiar  one.  The  cavalry  was  absent,  and  he  had  no  in 
formation  of  the  whereabouts  or  numbers  of  his  adversary.  The 
prisoners  stated  that  Meade  with  his  main  force  was  rapidly 
approaching  Gettysburg,  and  some  of  our  own  officers  reported 
that  heavy  colums  were  threatening  our  left  Hank.  Besides,  we 
had  suffered  severe  losses.  Under  these  circumstances,  says 
General  Lee  in  his  report,  "without  information  as  to  its  (Meade's 
army's)  proximity,  the  strong  position  which  the  enemy  had 
assumed  could  not  be  attacked  without  danger  of  exposing  the 
four  divisions  present,  already  weakened  and  exhausted  by  a 
long  and  bloody  struggle,  to  overwhelming  numbers  of  fresh 
troops, "j  and  so  it  was  determined  to  await  the  arrival  of  Long- 
street. 

Now,  it  happens  that  General  Lee's  speculations  were  entirely 
verified,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  indeed  whether,  if  accurate  in 
formation  had  been  possessed  as  to  the  enemy's  situation,  a 
renewal  of  the  attack  would  have  been  prudent.  It  is  disclosed 
in  the  Federal  reports  of  this  campaign  that  when  General  Howr- 
ard  on  that  morning  had  marched  to  the  relief  of  Reynolds,  he 
had  (what  Napoleon  said  a  good  general  ought  always  to  do  in 
going  into  battle)  provided  against  exactly  what  followed — a 
disastrous  defeat. 


*  See  Swiuton's  Decisive  Battles,  page  332. 
t  See  Swinton's  Decisive  Battles,  page  331. 
i  See  Lee's  second  report. 


IO6  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

Noticing  that  Cemetery  Hill,  just  in  rear  of  Gettysburg,  was 
a  position  of  commanding  importance,  he  had  posted  there  one 
of  his  divisions,  commanded  by  General  Alexander  von  Stein- 
werh,  an  accomplished  officer,  who  had  been  schooled  in  the 
Prussian  service.  That  officer  had  planted  his  artillery  along  the 
crest  of  that  hill,  and  around  its  base  were  low  stone  walls  rising 
tier  above  tier,  behind  which  he  had  posted  his  infantry.  While 
the  battle  was  raging  in  front  he  had  thrown  up  lunettes  around 
each  gun,  and,  according  to  the  Northern  historian  of  Gettysburg, 
"they  were  not  mere  heaps  of  stubble  and  turf,  but  solid  works 
of  such  height  and  thickness  as  to  defy  the  most  powerful  bolts 
which  the  enemy  (Confederates)  could  throw  against  him,  with 
smooth  and  level  platforms  on  which  the  guns  could  be  worked."* 
Besides  this  fresh  division,  Buford's  dismounted  cavalry  division 
had  retired  in  good  order  to  the  crest  of  this  hill,  and  when  the 
two  infantry  corps  were  driven  back  upon  Cemetery  Hill  they 
came,  to  use  the  same  writer's  language,  "into  the  folds  of  an 
impregnable  fortress. "f 

Now,  in  the  light  of  these  events,  bold  is  he  who  assumes  to 
be  the  censor.  Had  Ewell  hurled  his  two  divisions  against  this 
natural  fortress — now  doubly  fortified  with  pick  and  spade — be 
fore  Johnson  came  up,  and  been  repulsed  by  the  heavy  artillery 
and  fresh  troops  lying  in  wait,  who  would  not  have  said  it  was 
rash,  hot-headed  and  ill-considered?  Had  Lee,  without  waiting 

o 

for  Longstreet,  pushed  on  when  he  came  up  and  then  been 
beaten,  who  would  not  have  said  that  ardor  had  gotten  the  better 
of  his  discretion  ?  And,  indeed,  by  the  hour  Lee  arrived,  the 
Twelfth  corps,  under  Slocum,  and  the  Third,  under  Sickles,  had 
gotten  within  supporting  distance  of  their  comrades,  and  they 
actually  reached  the  field  between  six  and  seven  o'clock.]; 

On  tl\e  whole,  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  either  General  Lee  or 
General  Ewell  is  open  to  just  criticism  for  not  pushing  on,  though 
such  is  my  own  faith  in  the  superb  gallantry  of  our  troops,  that 
I  believe  they  would  have  annihilated  the  forces  then  in  their 
front.  But  this  would  have  been  far  from  a  decisive  result,  as 
Meade,  with  the  great  body  of  his  army,  would  then  have  fallen 
back  and  formed  a  new  line  nearer  to  Washington. 

A    CHAPTER    OF    ACCIDENTS. 

The  conflict  of  July  1st  had  been  entirely  a  chapter  of  accidents. 
Commencing  with  the  affair  of  Heth's  division  with  Buford's 

*  See  Bates'  History  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  page  76.  t  Ibid,  page  80. 

t  See  Bates'  History,  page  181,  and  Everett's  o-ition,  fourth  volume  Everett's  Orations  and 
Speeches,  page  635.  Birncy's  division  of  the  Third  corps  formed  on  Cemetery  Kidge  about 
five  o'clock.  See  General  Birney's  statement,  first  volume  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  366. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  IO/ 

cavalry,  it  had  attracted  reinforcements  from  both  armies  by  the 
sound  of  its  guns,  as  the  maelstrom  gathers  into  its  vortex  the 
craft  that  float  upon  the  surrounding  waters. 

At  the  very  hour  when  Buford's  men  were  going  into  action, 
an  order,  dated  that  very  day,  was  being  distributed  by  Meade 
from  his  headquarters,  at  Taneytown,  fourteen  miles  away,  among 
his  corps  commanders,  announcing  his  intention  "  to  withdraw 
his  army  from  its  presents  position,  and  form  line  of  battle,  with 
the  right  resting  in  the  neighborhood  of  Middleburg,  and  the 
left  at  Manchester — the  general  direction  being  that  of  Pipe 
creek"*  (which  stream  is  about  fifteen  miles  from  Gettysburg); 
and  when  General  Reynolds  rode  to  Buford's  rescue  he  fell  upon 
the  field  to  which  the  guns  had  summoned  himt  with  an  order 
in  his  pocket  to  fall  back  from  Gettysburg  and  Emettsburg  with 
the  First,  Eleventh  and  Third  Corps,  which  were  under  him,  to 
Middleburg. 

The  tidings  of  the  battle,  borne  %ack  to  Meade  at  Taneytown, 
were  accompanied  with  the  announcement  that  General  Reynolds 
had  fallen.  Still  he  did  not  himself  go  to  the  front,  so  slow  was 
he  to  appreciate  that  there  the  great  battle-cloud  would  burst; 
but  he  sent  forward  General  Hancock,  the  best  of  his  lieutenants. 
That  officer  reached  the  field  just  as  the  broken  columns  of  the 
First  and  Eleventh  corps  were  flying  for  refuge  to  the  summit  of 
Cemetery  Hill.  Hancock  was  a  fighting  man,  of  resolute  gal 
lantry  and  magnetic  presence.  He  soon  restored  order  along  the 
lines,  and,  sending  Wadsworth's  division  to  Gulp's  Hill,  check 
mated  the  movement  of  Ewell  to  get  that  commanding  height 
efore  him.*  Having  made  his  dispositions,  he  rode  back  to 
Meade,  at  Taneytown,  and  reported  that  the  field  was  favorable 
for  a  general  action.  At  ten  o'clock  that  night  Meade  started 
forward,  and  reached  Cemetery  Hill  at  one  o'clock,  while  all 
along  behind  him  the  roads  were  filled  by  the  artillery  and  in 
fantry  of  his  army,  pressing  on  to  the  stage  which  fate,  rather 
than  foresight,  had  appointed  for  the  great  drama  of  war. 

By  morning  all  his  corps  had  reached  within  supporting  dis 
tance  of  the  field,  except  the  Sixth,  which  was  started  from  Man 
chester,  thirty-six  miles  distant*  the  afternoon  before. 

On  our  side  all  the  infantry  but  Pickett's  division  was  up. 
Stuart,  "the  indefatigable" — Stuart,  "the  lion-hearted" — with 
Hampton  and  "Light  Horse"  Lees,  had  come.  The  plume  that 
never  danced  so  joyously  as  in  the  storm  of  battle,  the  sabre 
whose  electric  light  had  so  often  cleaved  with  a  flash  the  path 
to  victory,  were  ready  to  lead  the  squadrons  to  the  onset  once 

*  See  Conduct  of  the  War,  volume  I,  pige  353.  tlbid,  page  354. 

iSee  General  Hancjck's  testimony,  page  405,  Conduct  of  the  War,  volume  J. 


108  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

more.  And  there,  crowning  the  opposite  ridges  with  batteries, 
bayonets  and  sabres,  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  and  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  surveyed  each  other,  marshaled  in  solid, 
well-ordered  array  of  battle. 

LEE    RESOLVES    TO    ATTACK. 

u  It  had  not  been  intended,"  says  General  Lee  (see  his  first 
report),  "to  fight  a  general  battle  at  such  a  distance  from  our 
base  unless  attacked  by  the  enemy;  but  finding  ourselves  unex 
pectedly  confronted  by  the  Federal  army,  it  became  a  matter  of 
difficulty  to  withdraw  through  the  mountains  with  our  large 
trains.  At  the  same  time,  the  country  was  unfavorable  for  col 
lecting  supplies  while  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy's  main  body, 
as  he  was  enabled  to  restrain  our  foraging  parties  by  occupying 
the  passes  of  the  mountains  with  regular  and  local  troops.  A 
battle  thus  became,  in  a  measure,  unavoidable.  Encouraged  by 
the  successful  issue  of  the  engagement  of  the  first  day,  and  in 
view  of  the  valuable  results  that  would  ensue  from  the  defeat  of 
the  army  of  General  Meade,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  renew 
the  attack."  So  the  first  day's  fight  had  changed  our  Com 
mander's  plan ;  and  when  he  left  a  conference  held  with  Generals 
Ewell,  Early  and  Rodes,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  the  understand 
ing  was  that  with  the  light  the  contest  should  be  renewed.  In 
planning  for  the  assault,  the  vigilant  eye  of  Lee  had  not  failed  to 
take  in  the  salient  points  of 

THE    FEILD    OF    BATTLE. 

Away  to  the  right  of  our  line  there  rose  up  a  bold  promontory, 
known  as  little  "Little  Round  Top" — a  bald  granite  spur,  con 
stituting  a  natural  fortress,  and  commanding,  from  the  Federal 
left,  the  Cemetery  Ridge,  on  which  Meade's  army  was  aligned — 
a  Gibraltar  to  the  Union  General  once  possessed — a  key  position, 
unlocking  his  strength,  if  once  in  Confederate  hands.  About  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  further  on  south,  rises  the  still  bolder  knob 
'known  as  "  Round  Top."  Between  Little  Round  Top  and  Get 
tysburg  stretches  the  Cemetery  Ridge  due  north  in  a  straight 
line  for  two  miles.  Just  in  the  rear  and  south  of  the  town  this 
ridge  curves  like  a  fish-hook  and  projects  into  Cemetery  Hill, 
which  derives  its  name  from  the  town  grave  yard  thereon, 
wherein — 

"The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 

Then  the  ridge  bends  around  eastward,  and  a  rugged,  wooded 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL. 

height,  with  rocky  face,  known  as  Gulp's  Hill,  guards  the  eastern 
flank. 

This  hill  commands  Cemetery  Hill  from  the  northeast,  as 
Little  Round  Top  commands  the  ridge  from  the  southwest. 

The  left  wing  of  our  army,  looking  due  south,  faced  Gulp's  and 
Cemetery  Hills.  The  centre  and  right  wings,  almost  at  right 
angles  with  the  left  wing,  looked  eastward,  facing  the  Cemetery 
Ridge. 

A 

General  Lee's  plan  was  for  Ewell  to  attack  Cemetery  Hill  "by 
way  of  diversion"  "at  dawn,"  to  be  converted  into  a  real  attack, 
if  opportunity  offered,  while  Longstreet  was  to  make  the  main 
attack  on  the  enemy's  right,  seize  Round  Top  and  Little  Round 
Top,  and  turn  the  Federal  flank. 

FAILURE    OF    THE    SECOND     DAY'S    PLAN "SOME     ONE    HAS 

BLUNDERED  " WHO  ? 

Before  dawn,  while  marshaling  his  troops  for  the  assault, 
Ewell  received  orders  from  General  Lee  to  wait  for  the  sound  of 
Longstreet's  guns.*  But  the  dawn  came,  and  no  guns  heralded 
the  action.  Said  Mr.  Edward  Lverett,  in  his  oration  at  Gettys 
burg:  "And  here  I  cannot  but  remark  on  the  Providential  inaction 
of  the  Rebel  army.  Had  the  contest  been  renewed  by  it  at  day 
light  on  the  2d  of  July,  with  the  First  and  Eleventh  corps  ex 
hausted  by  the  battle  and  retreat,  the  Third  and  Twelfth  weary 
from  their  forced  march,  and  the  Second,  Fifth  and  Sixth  not  yet 
arrived,  nothing  but  a  miracle  could  have  saved  the  armv  from  a 

o  ^ 

great  disaster.  Instead  of  this,  the  day  dawned,  the  sun  rose, 
the  cool  hours  of  the  morning  passed,  and  a  considerable  part  of 
the  afternoon  wore  away,  without  the  slightest  aggressive  move 
ment  on  the  part  of  the  qjiemy.  Thus  time  was  given  for  half 
of  our  forces  to  arrive  and  take  their  places  in  the  lines,  while 
the  rest  of  the  army  enjoyed  a  much-needed  half  clay's  repose. "f 
I  have  searched  in  vain  all  accessible  sources  of  information 
for  some  explanation  of  General  Lee's  failure  to  carry  out  the 
plan  resolved  upon  the  night  before — a  plan  eminently  sagacious 
in  itself,  and  which,  had  it  been  pursued  promptly  at  dawn,  would 
doubtless  have  resulted  in  the  disastrous  overthrow  of  the  Fede 
ral  army,  so  graphically  indicated  by  Mr.  Everett;  for  Little 
Round  Top,  which,  passing  strange  to  say,  had  not  been  occu 
pied  by  the  enemy,  would  have  fallen  into  our  hands,  and  the 
key  of  victory  gained  without  a  struggle;  nor  was  it  occupied 
till  later  in  the  day,  when  our  troops  were  moving  upon  it.* 

*  S  ^  General  Ewell's  report.  +  See  volume  IV,  Everett's  Orations,  page  537. 

iSee  volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  332. 


IIO  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

The  secret  of  that  fatal  delay,  which  to  my  mind  was  the  great 
mistake  or  misfortune  of  the  campaign,  may  perhaps  be  forever 
buried  in  our  Commander's  bosom.  I  apprehend  that  the  tardi 
ness  of  General  Longstreet's  movements,  and  the  prolonged 
absence  of  Pickett's  division,  was  the  cause;  but  lest  injustice  be 
done  to  General  Longstreet,  I  forbear  expressing  an  opinion. 
At  any  rate,  the  fault  was  not  Lee's,  for  he  was  anxious  to  attack 
at  dawn.  He  sent  back  orders  to  hasten  the  march  of  tfie  absent 
troops  (see  his  report),  and  some  overruling  reason  must  have 
stayed  his  hand.  But,  alas!  the  opportunity  was  lost  forever. 
"Opportunity,"  saith  the  old  adage,  "has  hair  in  front,  behind 
she  is  bald;  catch  her  by  the  forelock  and  a  little  child  can  hold 
her,  but  once  gone,  Jupiter  himself  cannot  catch  her  again."  And 
such  was  our  experience  at  Gettysburg. 

THE    SECOND    DAY'S    ATTACK    AND    ITS    RESULTS. 

Finally,  by  three  o'clock  the  preparations  were  made.  The 
Union  army  had  been  formed  with  Slocum's  Twelfth  corps  and 
Wadsworth's  division  of  the  First  holding  Gulp's  Hill  and  the 
right  flank — opposite  to  Johnson's  division.  Howard's  Eleventh 
corps,  with  Robinson's  and  Doubleclay's  divisions  of  the  First, 
held  Cemetery  Hill — opposite  to  Early's  and  Rodes'  divisions. 
Then  came  Hancock's  Second  corps,  opposite  to  Hill's,  on  Cem 
etery  Ridge,  and  Sickles'  Third  corps  extending  towards  Round 
Top,  opposite  to  Longstreet.  Sykes'  Fifth  corps  was  in  reserve 
on  the  Federal  right,  and  Sedgwick,  who  reached  the  field  just 
as  the  battle  was  commencing,  took  place  in  reserve  upon  the 
left. 

I  should  have  little  pleasure,  even  did  time  permit,  in  detailing 
the  events  of  this  day;  for,  though  it  abounds  in  bright  exploits, 
the  attack  was  rendered  disjointed  and  ineffectual  by  strange 
misunderstandings — to  use  no  harsher  term. 

Longstreet,  with  Hood's  and  McLaws'  divisions,  struck  the 
Federal  left  and  came  within  an  ace  of  possessing  Little  Round 
Top,  which  was  hastily  occupied  by  the  enemy  after  our  lines 
were  put  in  motion.  As  soon  as  this  attack  on  the  Federal  right 
got  well  under  way,  Johnson's  division,  with  magnificent  valor, 
rushed  up  the  rough,  rocky  ledges  of  Gulp's  Hill;  and  Hoke's 
and  Hays'  brigades  of  Early's  division,  who  took  their  signal  of 
assault  from  Johnson's  guns,  charged  the  enemy's  batteries  on 
Cemetery  Hill,  and  planted  their  standards  on  its  summit,  cap 
turing  his  cannon,  routing  two  lines  of  infantry,  and  cutting  the 
right  centre  of  the  Federal  line.* 

*  Hoke's  brigade  was  commanded  in  this  battle  (General  Hoke  being  absent,  wounded)  by 
Colonel  .1.  E.  Avery,  of  the  Sixth  North  Carolina  regiment— one  of  the  bravest  and  best  of 
the  many  excellent  soldiers  that  North  Carolina  gave  to  the  Confederate  cause. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  I  I  I 

But  here  Wo,  the  while!  this  splendid  sally  was  robbed  of  its 
fruits.  Early  was  to  attack  when  he  heard  Johnson's  guns; 
Rodes,  on  Early's  right,  was  to  continue  it  when  he  heard  Early's 
guns.  Early's  part  was  nobly  done,  and  Rodes  started  to  fulfill 
his  part.  But  Rodes,  it  seems,  had  a  much  greater  distance  to 
traverse  than  Early,  and  for  some  reason,  nowhere  explained  in 
Lee's  or  Swell's  reports  (General  Rodes'  report  I  have  been 
unable  to  see),  at  the  time  when  the  men  of  Hoke's  and  Hays' 
brigades  surmounted  the  Federal  works,  the  gallant  Rodes  was 
just  moving  out  to  assault  those  in  his  front.  Before  he  did  so 
the  Federal  reserves  were  hurled  upon  Early,  and  these  two  thin 
brigades,  wasted  by  the  charge  and  separated  from  all  support, 
were  driven  from  the  crest  by  fresh  troops,  and  the  prize  fell  from 
the  victorious  hands  which  had  already  grasped  it. 

The  shades  of  night  had  fallen  before  the  battle  closed,  and, 
though  everywhere  the  troops  had  borne  themselves  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  their  fame,  the  unhappy  miscarriage  of  Rodes'  move 
ment  had  prevented  the  consummation  of  Lee's  well-designed 
plan. 

But  some  advantages  had  been  gained  and  some  trophies  won. 
On  our  right  the  Federal  line  had  been  driven  back  by  Long- 
street,  some  guns  and  standards  captured,  and  some  advanced 
positions  carried.  On  our  left  Johnson's  division  had  driven  the 
enemy  from  his  works,  and  had  maintained  an  advanced  footing 
on  Gulp's  Hill.  In  Early's  front  the  soldiers  of  the  old  North 
State,  led  by  Colonel  Avery — who  there  sealed  his  devotion  to 
the  Southern  cause  with  his  heart's  blood — had  won  another 
wreath  for  the  brow  of  Carolina;  and  the  gallant  Louisianians, 
led  by  Harry  Hays,  had  brought  down  from  the  crest  of  Ceme 
tery  Hill  four  regimental  standards,  seized  from  the  cannon's 
mouth,  and  after  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  wrestle  with  the  infantry 
which  defended  them. 

THE    LOUISIANIANS. 

Brave  spirits  of  Louisiana!  Now  deeper  in  misfortune;  hence 
to  our  hearts  closer  and  to  memory  clearer.  Leading  one  of 
the  regiments  that  climbed  the  summit  of  that  terrible  crest  was 
Davidson  B.  Perm,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  now,  by  the  voice  of 
his  people,  the  rightful  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Pelican  State. 
Take  heart,  brave  leader  and  brave  people!  To-night  your  old 
comrades  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  send  you  fraternal 
greetings.  No  longer  separated  from  each  other  by  a  line  of  fire, 
the  hearts  of  the  liberty-loving  people  of  this  great  nation, 
whether  they  once  beat  under  the  Confederate  gray  or  the  Union 


112  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

blue,  now  beat  in  sympathy  with  your  brave  endeavor  to  restore 
Louisiana  to  the  sisterhood  of  States,  with  a  government  worthy 
of  the  republican  name  and  of  the  Caucasian  race. 

The  gallant  souls  who  met  you  in  the  shock  of  battle  know, 
as  well  as  we  who  cheered  you  on,  that  the  stout  arms  which 
drove  the  bayonets  though  the  Federal  lines  on  that  "well- 
foughten  field"  were  filled  with  blood  that  can  never  flow  in  the 
feeble  pulses  of  sycophants  and  slaves.  Side  by  side  the  boys  in 
blue  and  the  boys  in  gray  are  coming  to  your  rescue.  Over  the 
tumults  of  the  polls  we  hear  the  pibroch  ringing;  and  in  1876, 
when  the  guns  are  heralding  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  free 
dom's  birth,  God  grant  that  they  may  sound  to  Louisiana  the 
dawn  of  its  resurrection! 

.    THE    FINAL'  DAY. 

There  was  this  significant  feature  in  the  second  day's  fight: 
The  Confederate  troops  had  everywhere  borne  themselves  with 
unsurpassed  audacity  and  intrepidity,  carrying  the  most  difficult 
positions  by  storm;  and  they  could  well  say  to  their  countrymen, 
with  the  Athenian  general,  that  "so  far  as  their  fate  depended  on 
them  they  were  immortal." 

They  had  failed,  but  from  mistakes  and  misunderstandings  of 
their  superiors.  This  fact  only  increased  General  Lee's  un 
bounded  faith  in  his  men,  and  he  resolved  to  advance  again. 
"The  result  of  this  day's  operations,"  says  he,  "induced  the  belief 
that  with  proper  concert  of  action,  and  with  the  increased  support 
that  the  positions  gained  gn  the  right  would  enable  the  artillery 
to  render  the  assaulting  columns,  we  should  ultimately  succeed, 
and  it  was  accordingly  determined  to  renew  the  attack."*  The 
general  plan  was  unchanged.  Longstreet  was  to  assail  the  left- 
centre,  and  Ewell  the  extreme  right. 

Early  in  the  day,  Johnson's  division,  on  our  left,  had  a  pro 
longed  struggle,  and  drove  the  enemy  from  a  part  of  his  entrench 
ments,  but  was  unable  to  carry  the  main  works  on  the  crest  of 
Culp's  Hill.  It  was  designed  that  Longstreet  should  attack 
simultaneously  with  him;  but  the  dispositions  were,  for  some 
reason,  so  slow  that  Johnson  had  concluded  his  drawn  combat 
before  Longstreet  was  ready  to  begin.  It  was  arranged  now  that 
Hood's  and  McLaws'  divisions  should  guard  our  right  flank; 
then,  Pickett — strengthened  on  his  left  by  Heth's  division,  under 
Pettigrew,  and  Lane's  and  Scales'  brigades  of  Pender's  division, 
under  Trimble,  and  on  his  right  by  Wilcox's  brigade  of  Ander 
son's  division — was  to  constitute  the  assaulting  column.  At 

•  See  Lee's  second  report. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  I  1 3 

seven  o'clock  that  morning  the  fresh  division  of  Pickett,  which 
had  rested  the  night  before  a  few  miles  from  the  field,  marched 
to  the  position  from  which  it  was  to  be  launched  upon  the  enemy's 
works,  and  formed  in  line  just  behind  Seminary  Ridge,  protected 
from  view  by  the  swell  of  ground  and  the  foliage  of  the  oak 
forest  that  grows  along  its  crest.  From  the  summit  of  this 
ridge  the  long  grim  line  of  Cemetery  Ridge,  just  opposite,  loomed 
up  in  clear  profile  against  the  summer  sky,  bristling  with  the 
artillery  and  infantry  lines  of  the  foe;  and  all  during  the  hot 
hours  of  morning  and  noon  the  men  picked  for  the  assault  con 
templated  the  frowning  heights  against  which  they  were  to  be 
hurled.  Green  fields  decked  forth  in  all  the  rich  garniture  of 
fertile  summer-time,  here  and  there  separated  by  stone  walls  and 
fences,  filled  the  intervening  space — a  slope  down,  then  a  valley, 
and  then  a  slope  again  right  up  to  the  batteries  and  lines  charged 
with  death  in  every  form  that  lead  and  iron  and  steel  could  be 
wrought  by  the  destructiue  genius  of  man. 

THE    CANNONADE. 

Upon  the  crest  of  Seminary  Ridge,  General  Lee  had  planted 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  guns,  covering  the  front  of  his 
storming  column.*  Right  opposite,  about  ninety  guns  faced 
them,  and  on  either  Hank  from  Cemetery  Hill  and  Round  Top 
other  battaries,  comprising  two  hundred  more  guns,  were  ranged 
to  join  in  chorus.  To  prepare  the  way,  our  batteries  were  first 
to  cannonade  the  enemy's  lines,  and  as  they  closed  the  infantry 
were  to  move  out  and  pierce  with  their  bayonets  the  Federal  left- 
centre.  At  one  o'clock  a  single  gun  broke  the  Sabbath-like  still 
ness  that  had  brooded  for  hours  over  the  field,  then  another  single 
gun — the  preconcerted  signal — and  then  all  Seminary  Ridge 
burst  forth  with  flames,  as  over  one  hundred  guns  poured  forth 
their  iron  charges  upon  the  Federal  lines.  Gun  answered  gun, 
and  then  for  two  hours  the  two  armies  were  wrapt  in  the  smoke 
of  the  most  tremendous  connonade  that  ever  in  the  open  field 
darkened  the  sky  of  the  Western  world;  shells  screamed,  rush 
ing  through  the  air  like  devils  on  wing  of  fire;  through  murky, 
sulphurous  clouds  the  sun  glared  "  with  blood-shot  eye ";  the 
earth  itself  was  tremulous,  as  if  internal  commotion  shook  its 
foundations ;  and  so  rapid  were  the  discharges  of  cannon,  that 
the  sound  of  no  particular  gun  could  be  distinguished — no  more 
than  the  roar  of  a  single  wave  when  angry  ocean  tosses  its  bil- 


*  General  Meade  estimates  our  suns th"n  enframed  atone  hundred  and  tw.'ntv-five.  See 
volume  I,  Conduct  of  the  War,  pag  >s  3P,?,-:i3S.  Mr.  Swinton  places  them  at  ona.  hundred  and 
.fifty-five.  I  have  no  accurate  Information,  but  think  one  hundred  and  twenty  about  right. 


I  14  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

lows  mountain-high  in  midwinter  storm.  Nor  was  this,  as  is: 
generally  the  case  with  artillery  duels,  mere  "sound  and  fury, 
signifying  nothing."  Our  infantry  were  for  the  most  part  sheltered' 
but  on  the  Federal  side,  says  the  historian  of  Gettysburg,  "not 
withstanding  every  precaution  was  taken  to  shelter  the  Union 
troops,  the  destruction  was  terrible.  Men  were  torn  limb  from 
limb  and  blown  to  atoms  by  the  villainous  shells;  horses  were 
disembowelled  and  thrown  prostrate  to  writhe  in  death  agonies; 
caisons  filled  with  ammunition  were  exploded;  cannon  rent;  and 
steel-banded  gun-carriages  knocked  into  shapeless  masses."* 

THE    CHARGE. 

At  the  end  of  two  hours  the  fire  slackened — then  closed  like 
some  grand  orchestral  chorus  announcing  the  curtain's  rise  as 
tragedy  itself  steps  forth  upon  the  stage.  As  silence  once  more 
reigned  over  the  smoking  heights,  from  behind  the  sable  curtain 
that  still  hung  over  Seminary  Ridge,  there  emerged  the  long 
double  lines  of  the  Confederate  infantry,  in  none  of  the  "pomp 
and  circumstance  of  war,"  but  clad  in  sombre  homespun,  brown 
and  gray,  with  nothing  bright  about  them  save  the  blood-red  battle 
flags  twinkling  in  their  midst  and  the  glittering  sheen  of  cold  steel. 
Old  Virginia  had  the  post  of  honor  that  day.  In  the  centre  of  the 
assaulting  line  moved  Pickett's  men,  "in  battle's  magnificently 
stern  array" — Kemper  on  the  right,  connecting  with  Wilcox; 
Garnett  on  the  left,  connecting  with  Pettigrew;  Armistead  be 
hind  them — Virginians  all.  Down  the  slope  from  Seminary 
Ridge  they  moved  forth  to  the  assault,  not  impetuously,  says 
Mr.  Swinton,  "  at  the  run  or  double-quick,  as  has  been  repre 
sented  in  the  over-colored  descriptions  in  which  the  famous 
charge  has  been  so  often  painted,  but  with  a  disciplined  steadi 
ness — a  quality  noticed  by  all  who  saw  this  advance  as  its  charac 
teristic  feature."f  Mounted  on  his  familiar  iron-gray,  war-horse 
Traveler,  General  Lee,  from  the  summit  of  Seminary  Ridge, 
watched  his  veterans  as  they  advanced  to  this  supreme  endeavor, 
as  did  Napoleon,  from  the  slope  of  La  Belle  Alliance,  watch  the 
advance  of  the  Old  Guard  upon  the  allied  centre  at  Waterloo. 
Scarcely  had  they  debouched  into  the  field,  before  once  more 
Cemetery  Ridge,  in  their  front,  was  fringed  with  fire,  and  into 
their  faces  came  the  hissing  shot  and  shell.  And,  unfortunately 
for  us,  our  oivn  batteries,  liaving  nearly  exliausted  their  ammunition, 
(a  fact  unknown  to  General  Lee  when  the  assault  commenced),, 
were  unable  to  reply.  \ 

*  See  Bates'  History  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  page  154. 

t  See  Swinton's  Decisive  Battles,  page  343. 

JSee  Lee's  second  report.    Wnuse  fault  was  this  ? 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  I  I  5' 

Our  left,  under  the  noble  Trimble,  who  was  soon  struck  down, 
staggered  at  the  start,  but  soon  regained  their  step;  and  while 
shell  burst  overhead,  and  solid  shot  opened  frightful  gaps,  the 
lines  closed  up  and  moved  on.  Half  way  over  this  death- 
devoured  field  Pickett's  men  paused  and  rearranged  their  lines, 
and  then  moved  obliquely  to  the  left,  so  as  to  strike  "the  highest 
point  and  apparent  centre  of  the  enemy."*  Now,  it  happened 
that  Wilcox  did  not  close  on  to  Pickett's  right,  thus  leaving  a 
gap  open  upon  his  flank ;  and  now,  at  close  range,  the  enemy 
from  his  shotted  guns  poured  canister  right  into  their  bosoms; 
but  still  they  pressed  right  on.  And  now  from  behind  stone 
walls  and  trenches  on  the  top  plateau  of  Cemetery  Ridge, 
the  fire  of  musketry  flashed  into  their  faces.  Kemper  and  Gar- 
nett,  while  leading  their  men  like  the  Paladins  of  old,  had  fallen; 
but  the  men  faltered  not,  and  with  a  bold  forward  rush  they  clove 
the  Federal  line.  Brave  Armistead,  leading  his  men  afoot,  sprung 
upon  the  enemy's  works,  while  all  around  him  clustered  the 
resolute  soldiers  of  the  Virginia  Division,  who  had 

"Charged  an  Aruiv 
While  all  the  world  wondered.'' 

With  calm  countenance,  but  heart  elate,  General  Lee,  from  his 
post,  with  his  field-glass  fixed  upon  this  point,  now  saw  the 
battle-flags  waving  over  the  smoke  that  wreathed  the  crest  of 
Cemetery  Ridge,  like  a  cluster  of  blood-red  mountain  blossoms 
amidst  thick  foliage;  and  for  the  while  Pickett's  men  stood  con 
querors  on  this  blood-won  summit,  while  all  along  their  front 
the  Federal  troops,  dismayed  by  their  astonishing  intrepidity, 
fled  the  field,  leaving  their  batteries  in  the  victors'  hands. 
X  But,  alas!  they  stood  alone.  For  at  least  twenty  minutes  (I 
am  told  by  Captain  John  Holmes  Smith,  of  the  LynchbuPg 
Home  Guard,  who,  though  wounded,  climbed  that  perilous 
height),  the  few  who  got  there  held  undisputed  possession  of 
the  field.  But  where  were  their  supports?  Where  were  their 
coadjutors?  Pettigrew's  and  Trimble's  men  had  broken  before 
the  tornado  of  canister  in  their  front,'  and  had  disappeared. f 
And  now,  upon  their  right,  the  gap  left  by  Wilcox  was  being 
filled  by  Federal  troops;  and  marshaling  in  their  front  the  Fed 
eral  reserves,  summoned  from  every  point  to  the  rescue,  stood  in 
masses  four  lines  deep. 

*  Major  Walter  Harrison  in  his  volume,  entitled  Pickett's  Men,  so  states.    See  page  1^3. 

t  General  Trimble  lost  a  leg  in  this  charge.  There  is  no  reproach  for  him.  General  Heth 
had  been  wounded  in  the  first  day's  fight,  and  was  absent,  and  his  division,  under  Pettigrew, 
had  been  decimated  in  the  first  day's  fight.  General  Trimble  had  been  placed  in  command 
during  the  engagement. 


Il6  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Anxiously  they  looked  for  support,  but  instead  of  succor  their 
antagonists  closed  upon  them  front  and  flank,  and  this  little 
wasted  band  could  no  more  live,  in  the  concentric  lines  of  fire 
emptied  on  their  devoted  heads,  than  the  child's  play-boat  could 
breast  the  surge  of  an  ocean  storm. 

Sword  in  hand,  on  the  farthest  verge  of  the  advance,  brave 
Armistead  rfell,  death-stricken;  and  from  this  highest  pinnacle 
to  which  ever  the  waves  of  the  Confederate  war  dashed  their  bloody 
spray,  the  surviving  handful  of  Pickett's  men  relaxed  their  hold, 
and  sullenly  turned  their  faces  back  to  the  Confederate  lines  and 
toward  the  setting  sun.  The  sun,  alas !  whose  waning  rays 
lighted  for  the  last  time  to  many  a  fallen  heroe  the  scenes  of 
earth — the  sun,  alas!  whose  waning  rays  seemed  prophetic  of 
the  waning  cause,  dearer  to  them  than  light  or  life.  And  so 
Virginia's  spear  was  broken — the  banner  of 'the  Confederacy  was 
blighted — the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  done! 

THE    LOSSES. 

I  pause  to  contemplate  the  havoc  wrought  in  these  three  days 
of  battle  We  have  authentic  official  reports  that  the  loss  on  the 
Federal  side  amounted  to  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-four  killed,  thirteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  nine 
wounded,  and  six  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-three  missing — 
in  all,  twenty-three  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-six.* 

The  author  of  "  Harper's  Pictorial  History  of  the  War" — 
which  could  be  more  fitly  termed  "Harper's  Pictorial  Fib" — 
estimates  our  loss  at  thirty-six  thousand  in  all;  and  Mr.  Bates, 
the  historian  of  Gettysburg,  estimates  it  at  twenty-seven  thou 
sand  five  hundred  wounded,  five  thousand  five  hundred  killed, 
and  thirteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-one  prisoners, 
wiiich  would  make  forty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  f — a  most  preposterous  conclusion,  worthy  only  of  Gulliver 
or  Munchausen. 

I  am  enabled  to  state  from  the  official  reports  the  losses  of  two 
corps  of  our  army.  General  Longstreet's  losses  were  nine  hun 
dred  and  thirty-three  killed,  four  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty-three  wounded,  and  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  missing — total,  seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-nine. £ 
General  Ewell's  were  eight  hundred  and  eighty-three  killed,  three 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-seven  wounded,  and  one  thou 
sand  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  missing — total,  six  thousand 
and  ninety-four.§  Aggregate  in  the  two  corps,  thirteen  thousand 

*See  General  Meade's  report.  tSee  Bates'  History,  pages  199-200. 

tSee  official  report  in  Southern  Magazine  for  April,  1874— Appendix— page  55. 
gSee  General  Ewell's  report  in  Southern  Magazine  for  June,  1873,  page  695. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  I  I/ 

seven  hundred  and  fifty-three.  It  is  not  probable  that  Hill's 
losses  exceeded  Longstreet's,  as  he  suffered  less  than  any  corps 
commander  on  the  second  day.  Putting  them  at  eight  thousand, 
we  would  have  as  a  grand  aggregate  twenty-one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-three — this  includes  artillery  and  infantry — 
and  allowing  one  thousand  more,  which  must  be  excessive,  for 
cavalry  and  for  nurses  who  were  left  with  the  wounded,  and  still 
our  losses  would  be  less  than  those  of  the  enemy. 

In  Pickett's  division  the  frightful  loss  attests  its  devoted  cou 
rage.  It  carried  into  action  four  thousand  four  hundred  and 
eighty-five  muskets,  about  four  thousand  seven*  hundred  rank 
and  file.  Its  loss  was  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
three.  Two  of  its  brigadiers  (Armistead  and  Garnett)  were 
killed,  and  the  third  (Kemper)  wounded,  but,  thank  heaven,  not 
lost.  Of  fifteen  regimental  commanders,  seven  were  killed  and 
eight  wounded;  and  of  its  whole  complement  of  field  officers, 
only  one,  the  gallant  Lieutenant-Colonel  Joseph  R.  Cabell,  who 
was  afterwards  killed  at  Drewry's  farm,  returned  from  the  charge 
unscathed. 

M'MIJKKS    ENGAGED. 

As  to  the  numbers  engaged  the  Federals  have  given  us  pretty 
thorough  information  as  to  their  side.  General  Meade  estimated 
liis  available  force  at  ninety-five  thousand  men  and  about  three 
hundred  cannon.*  Some  of  these  guarded  his  trains,  and  many 
must  have  straggled.  Discounting  ten  per  cent,  tfor  these,  he 
must  have  had,  in  his  seven  army  corps,  not  less  than  eighty 
thousand  men  upon  the  field. 

The  Federal  estimates  of  our  force  are  very  extravagant,  and 
some  of  them  not  a  little  curious.  General  Hooker  says  in  his 
testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War: 
"  With  regard  to  the  enemy's  force  I  had  reliable  information. 
Two  Union  men  had  counted  them  as  they  passed  through 
Hagerstown ;  and  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  mistake,  they 
compared  notes  every  night,  and  if  their  accounts  differed,  they 
were  satisfactorily  adjusted  by  compromise.  In  round  numbers, 
Lee  had  ninety-one  thousand  infantry  and  two  hundred  and 
eighty  pieces  of  artillery.  Marching  with  that  column  were  six 
thousand  cavalry. "f  He  then  estimates  Stuart's  cavalry  at  five 
thousand,  and  sums  up  his  count  of  Lee's  men  as  ninety  thou 
sand  infantry,  four  thousand  to  five  thousand  artillery,  and  ten 
thousand  cavalry — in  all  about  one  hundred  and  four  thousand. 

The  miraculous  performance  of  these  two  reliable  Union  men 

*See  General  Meade's  testimony,  first  volume  Conduct  of  the  War,  pages  337-S. 
t  First  volume  Conduct  of  the  War,  page  173. 


Il8  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

can  be  well  appreciated  when  it  is  remembered  that  all  of  Lee's 
army  did  not  pass  through  Hagerstown — Early's  command,  for 
one,  going  through  Sharpsburg — and  this  spectacle  of  a  com 
mander  basing  a  calculation  on  such  trivial  statements  can  only 
excite  ridicule.  I  am  not  able  to  state  General  Lee's  force;  but 
I  can  contribute  a  few  items  which  may  serve  partially  toward 
an  estimate.  I  hold  in  my  hand  the  original  tri-monthly  field 
return  of  Early's  division,  made  and  signed  by  myself  as  its 
Adjutant-General,  on  the  2Oth  of  June,  two  days  before  it  crossed 
the  Potomac.  The  total  present  for  duty  was  five  hundred  and 
fourteen  officers  and  five  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
enlisted  men — aggregate,  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight.  This  division  was  fully  an  average  one  of  the  army. 
Pickett's  division,  as  stated  by  Major  Walter  Harrison,  its  Adju 
tant-General,  numbered  on  the  field  four  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eighty-one  muskets — about  four  thousand  seven  hundred 
rank  and  file.  But  allowing  six  thousand  as  the  general  division 
strength,  we  would  have  fifty-four  thousand  men.  The  cavalry 
could  not  have  exceeded  seven  thousand,  nor  the  artillery  three 
thousand,  and  allowing  ten  per  cent,  discount  for  straggling  and 
train  guards,  about  fifty-six  thousand  would  represent  our  avail 
able  strength.  This,  I  believe,  runs  over  the  mark,  but  it  shows 
how  groundless  are  the  wild  speculations  of  the  writers  who  have 
put  our  numbers  at  such  high  figures. 

We  have  also  some  general  data  which  show  that  the  weight 
of  numbers  must  have  greatly  preponderated  on  the  Federal  side. 
In  a  work  entitled  a  "History  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,"  from 
the  pen  of  Samuel  P.  Bates,  State  historian  of  Pennsylvania,  we 
have  a  tabular  statement  showing  the  regiments  of  both  armies. 
From  that  it  appears  that  there  were  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
Confederate  and  two  hundred  and  forty-one  Federal  regiments 
of  infantry  engaged — that  is,  seventy-seven  regiments  in  excess 
of  ours.  Three  hundred  is  a  large  average  regiment,  and  allow 
ing  that  as  the  general  average,  our  force  would  be  forty-nine 
thousand  two  hundred,  and  the  Federal  force  seventy-two  thou 
sand  three  hundred — a  result,  I  think,  nearly  approximating  the 
facts.* 

*  Mr.  Bates  states  that  Lee  went  Into  battle  with  seventy-two  thousand  men.  See  his 
History,  page  198.  This  work,  written  in  a  fair  and  manly  spirit,  though  not  disguising  strong 
Northern  partialities,  is  marred  by  its  evident  worthlessness  so  far  as  computation  of  num 
bers  and  losses  are  concerned.  The  ai chives  of  Confederate  history  will  ere  long  bring  to 
light  data  from  which  the  truth  may  be  elucidated  ;  and  in  the  meantime  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  Confederate  soldiers  who  have  means  of  information  will  carefully  preserve  and  record 
their  testimony  on  the  subject.  The  probability  is  that  there  has  been  a  double  count  of  our 
losses  in  some  casses— that  is,  that  those  reported  by  ouronVers  as  \vounded.  and  afterwards 
falling  into  the  enemy's  hands  on  the  retreat,  have  been  also  reported  by  the  Federals  as 
captured— and  thus  the  wounded  captive  counted  as  two  men  lost !  In  some  such  way  alone 
can  we  account  for  the  extravagant  estimates  of  our  losses,  directly  at  war  with  our 
authentic  official  reports. 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL. 


THE    AFTER    PART. 

The  first  impulse  of  General  Meade,  when  he  saw  Pickett's 
men  break  and  fall  back,  was  to  hurl  forward  his  whole  army  in 
countercharge  againt  Lee.  He  has  been  severely  criticised  by 
many  of  his  Generals  for  not  doing  so;  but  it  is  well  for  him  that 
his  "native  hue  of  resolution"  was  so  soon— 

"Sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought." 

The  Federal  army,  as  well  as  their  commander,  were  appalled 
by  the  amazing  boldness  and  bravery  they  had  beheld.  They 
were  shocked  and  shattered  by  the  terrific  blow  received.  The 
arm  that  parried  the  stroke  had  been  paralyzed  by  it.  The  victor 
stood  aghast  upon  the  field  of  carnage.  The  hand  which  wielded 
the  scythe  was  too  weak  to  strike  back  at  the  rival  reaper,  which 
had  mowed  clown  his  own  ranks  like  a  desolating  storm. 

In  the  history  of  battles  we  generally  find  that  a  repulse  like 
this  is  followed  by  the  dismay,  confusion  and  flight  of  the  de 
feated  army.  But  not  thus  passed  away  the  glory  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  nor  of  that  great  Commander  who,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  saw  the  brimming  cup  of  victory  dashed 
from  his  ilps. 

On  our  right  Hood  and  Me  Laws,  in  the  centre  Anderson,  and 
on  the  left  the  whole  corps  of  Kwell,  stood  as  steady  and  un 
moved  as  if  they  had  witnessed  the  mimic  evolutions  of  a  holi 
day's  review;  and  not  only  not  dismayed,  but  eager  to  welcome 
their  antagonists  "with  bloody  hands  to  hospitable  graves." 

As  the  remnant  of  Pickett's  men  fell  back  within  our  lines 
General  Lee  rode  to  meet  them.  "Never  mind,"  said  he,  as  he 
urged  them  to  reform,  "we'll  talk  of  this  afterwards;  now  \vc 
want  all  good  men  to  rally";  and  to  General  Wilcox,  who  rode 
up,  he  said,  quietly  and  cheerfully:  "Never  mind,  General,  all 
this  has  been  my  fault,  and  you  must  help  me  out  of  it  the  best 
way  you  can." 

As  the  soldiers  caught  sight  of  their  beloved  Commander, 
whose  serene,  majestic  countenance  showed  no  trace  of  disap 
pointment,  they  raised  their  hats  and,  cheering,  turned  to  their 
posts;  and  many  a  ragged  veteran,  with  one  arm  wounded, 
grasped  his  musket  in  the  other  and  stood  ready  to  do  or  die. 
In  a  short  time  our  lines  were  rearranged,  and  so  effectually  and 
coolly  that,  as  said  by  Colonel  Freemantle,  a  British  officer,  who 
was  an  eye-witness,  "There  was  much  less  noise,  fuss  or  confu 
sion  than  at  an  ordinary  field-day."* 

*  See  Rev.  John  William  Jones'  Reminiscences  of  General  Lee. 


I2O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

During  the  whole  of  the  next  day  the  whole  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  stood  in  line  of  battle  on  Seminary  Ridge,  confront 
ing  in  solid  array  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It*  was  rainy  and 
chilly,  and  between  the  two  hosts  lay  the  thick-crowded  victims 
of  the  battle,  making  the  field  in  verity  a  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death. 

Then  slowly  our  columns  turned  their  faces  toward  Virginia, 
while,  slowly  and  timidly  following,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
hung  upon  our  rear,  willing  enough  to  wound  but  yet  afraid  to 
strike.  The  instructions  of  Meade  to  his  subordinates  were  by 
no  means  to  bring  on  a  general  engagement;  and  on  the  night 
of  the  1 3th  July  we  recrossed  the  swollen  waters  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  stood  again,  in  thinned  ranks  but  unbroken  spirit,  upon 
the  soil  of  the  Old  Dominion. 

CONCLUDING    REFLECTIONS. 

Thus,  my  comrades,  I  have  told  you  in  unvarnished  language 
the  story  of  Gettysburg. 

My  ghief  object  has  been  to  state  facts,  which  will  stand  as 
landmarks  of  Confederate  history,  rather  than  to  attempt  melli 
fluous  phrases  which  would  roll  away  like  rippling  waters.  And 
these — selected  from  a  mass— are  related  only  in  the  hope  of 
stimulating  farther  researches  and  expositions,  and  not  in  the 
vain  belief  that  they  comprehend  even  half  of  these  sad  but 
brilliant  annals. 

For  many  reasons  it  is  important  to  you  and  to  our  people 
that  the  truth  respecting  this  great  action  should  be  studiously 
explored  and  fully  recounted.  Fought  at  the  farthermost  North 
ern  point  to  which  our  armies  penetrated  at  any  time,  it  is  pro 
jected  into  a  conspicuousness  which  belongs  to  no  other  field. 
Its  result  increased  in  the  North  the  prominence  imparted  to  it 
by  its  geographical  location;  and  Northern  painters,  sculptors, 
essayists,  orators  and  historians  have  exhausted  the  resources  of 
art  and  language  in  picturing  its  actors  and  its  scenes,  and  in 
celebrating  the  real  and  too  frequently  the  fictitious  exploits 
which  the  Union  troops  performed. 

Above  all,  it  marked  a  decisive  turn  in  the  fortunes  of  war. 
It  was,  as  Mr.  Swinton  styles  it,  "  the  high-water  mark  of  the 
rebellion."  It  was,  indeed,  what  the  historian  Hallam  so  finely 
says  of  the  victory  won  by  Charles  Martel  over  the  invading 
Saracens  between  Tours  and  Poictiers — "  one  of  those  few  battles 
of  which  the  contrary  event  would  have  essentially  varied  the 
drama  of  the  world  in  all  its  subsequent  scenes."  For  had  the 
grand  assault  on  Cemetery  Ridge  been  compensated  by  results 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  121 

proportioned  to  the  genius  which  directed  and  the  courage  which 
made  it,  Baltimore  and  Washington  would  have  been  its  prizes, 
foreign  recognition  its  reward,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Con- 

o  o 

federate  States  as  an  independent  nation  its  final  fruitage. 

On  the  4th  clay  of  July,  icSGj,  while  messengers  were  bearing 
back  dispatches  that  carried  unutterable  grief  to  every  Southern 
home,  the  telegraphic  wires  throughout  the  North  were  flashing 
with  the  news;  bonfires  and  joyous  bells  wore  welcoming  the 
tidings  that  Pemberton  had  stacked  arms  before  Grant  at  Yicks- 
burg,  and  that  Lee  had  been  repulsed  by  Meadc  at  Gettysburg.  At 
once  despondent  hearts  were  elated;  clamorous  peace  men  were 
silenced;  distracted  councils  were  harmonized;  a  divided  people 
were  united.  The  rich,  populous,  world-assisted  North  stood  in 
phalanx  against  the  thin,  impoverished  and  beleaguered  people 
of  the  South.  The  policy  of  attrition  was  inaugurated,  and 
henceforth  the  struggle — though  radiant  with  all  the  virtues  that 
heroism,  skill  and  self-sacrifice  could  put  forth — was  only  a  con 
test  between  the  sands  of  the  hour-glass  and  time. 

While  these  causes  have  conspired  to  direct  the  eves  of  the 
world  to  the  field  of  Gettysburg,  they  have  made  it  to  us  a  sore 
subject,  reviving  sorrow  f>r  "the  unreturning  brave"  who  fell 
there,  increasing  the  poignancy  of  defeat  by  the  contrast  between 
the  bright  promise  of  the  first  day  and  the  disastrous  realizations 
of  the  third,  and  bringing  to  mind  the  sad  refrain  — 

'•  Of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen, 
The  saddest  arc  thest1 — it  ini^ht  have  been." 

Therefore  its  glorious  annals  have  been  neglected  on  our  side; 
criticisms  and  censures  upon  gallant  and  worthy  officers  have 
gone  unchallenged;  and  as  yet  no  hand  has  unrolled  the  graphic 
scroll  that  shall  tell  to  time  the  deeds  which  are  worthy  of 
eternity.  Let  no  Confederate  shrink  before  the  name  of  Gettys 
burg  because  it  was  dark  with  disaster  and  bitter  with  disappoint 
ment. 

It  was  the  remark  of  Wellington  that  the  saddest  thing  next 
to  a  defeat  was  victory.  With  us  not  less  glorious  than  any 
victory  was  this  defeat. 

The  gallant  Frenchman  blushes  for  Sedan  and  Metz  the  blush 
of  shame ;  but  with  us  the  cheek  may  well  glow  with  honest 
pride  as  we  recall  the  fact,  that  on  the  day  of  our  misfortunes  the 
flame  of  liberty  was  fed  with  the  richest  libation  ever  poured 
upon  her  altars,  and  glory  opened  to  the  Confederate  brother 
hood  who  gathered  around  them  the  doors  of  immortality.  The 
open  fields  over  which  the  unsheltered  heroes  moved  tell,  more 
eloquently  than  the  emblazoned  pages  of  history,  the  tale  of 
9 


122  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

their  devotion,  and  the  everlasting  hills  of  Cemetery  Ridge  raise 
aloft  to  heaven  the  records  of  their  everlasting  fame. 

And  now  we  may  apply  to  them  the  words  of  Pericles,  pro 
nounced  in  memory  of  the  Athenians  who  fell  in  the  Samian 
war:  "They  are  become  immortal,  like  the  Gods,  for  the  Gods 
themselves  are  not  visible  to  us,  but  from  the  honors  they  receive 
and  the  happiness  they  enjoy,  we  conclude  they  are  immortal; 
and  such  should  those  brave  men  be  who  die  for  their  country." 

GENERAL    LEE. 

Nor  let  the  Confederate  shrink  before  that  critic  who,  from 
the  serene  atmosphere  of  his  sanctum,  steps  forth  to  pluck  a 
laurel  from  the  reputation  of  that  great  Commander  who  so 
boldly  attempted  what  others  would  pale  to  think  of.  With  the 
fall  of  Vicksburg  imminent,  General  Lee  felt  that  the  hour  de 
manded  this  Herculean  effort.  With  the  spirit  of  a  Caesar  or 
a  Napoleon,  he  bravely  cast  and  bravely  stood  the  hazard  of  the 
die.  By  the  very  audacity  of  his  well- aimed  stroke  he  deserved — 
by  the  steady  heroism  of  Pickett's  men  he  well-nigh  won,  and 
only  by  a  series  of  those  curious  accidents  which,  in  the  game  of 
war,  confound  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  did  he  loose — that  crown 
ing  triumph  which  his  supreme  endeavor  was  so  well  devised  to 
win. 

"  It  was  all  my  fault,"  said  he;  but  not  such  will  be  the  verdict 
of  the  just  historian,  who  with  clear  eye  and  steady  hand  shall 
trace,  through  the  tumultuous  and  sanguinary  incidents  of  the 
day,  the  course  of  him  who,  after  exposing  his  person  to  all  the 
dangers  of  the  fray,  would  crucify,  on  self-erected  cross,  his  own 
illustrious  name,  and  make  that  reputation,  more  precious  than 
life  itself,  vicarious  sacrifice  for  his  lieutenants  and  his  men. 

And  when  the  moralist  shall  seek  the  highest  example  of 
what  is  heroic  and  grand  in  action  and  martyr-like  in  spirit,  that 
he  may  erect  before  humankind  a  model,  that  shall  warm  its 
finest  fancies  and  excite  its  highest  aspirations,  he  shall  find  it  in 
the  person  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  upon  the  summit  of  Seminary 
Ridge,  the  mount  of  his  transfiguration,  where,  sublimating  all 
earthly  instincts,  the  Divinity  in  his  bosom  shone  translucent 
through  the  man,  and  his  spirit  rose  up  into  the  Godlike. 

And  the  day  shall  dawn  when  here  in  the  Capitol  Square  we 
shall  look  again  upon  the  warrior's  form  and  face,  moulded  in 
perennial  bronze — shall  see  once  more  our  great  Commander, 
mounted  on  Traveler,  his  battle  steed,  the  seeming  image  of 
Majesty  and  Victory.  Here  in  th  j  after-time,  when  we  too  shall 
be  sleeping  under  the  sod  with  our  departed  comrades,  our  sons 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  123 

and  daughters  shall  look  up  to  that  commanding  presence,  re 
joicing  to  remember  that  their  fathers  fought  under  HIM.  And 
here  the  eye  of  the  wayfarer,  the  patriot  and  the  pilgrim  shall 
grow  brighter,  as  it  contemplates  with  one  glance  three  illustri 
ous  and  congenial  spirits,  born  to  Virginia,  given  to  humanity, 
world-renowned — GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  STONEWALL  JACKSON, 
and  ROBERT  EDWARD  LEE. 

"  O,  good  gray  head,  which  all  men  knew; 
O,  voice  from  which  their  omens  all  men  drew; 
O,  iron  nerve,  to  true  occasion  true; 
O.  fall'n  at  length,  that  tower  of  strength 
Which  stood  four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blew. 


Not  once  or  twice  in  our  State's  rough  story* 

The  path  of  duty  was  the  way  to  glory. 

Let  his  great  example  stand 

Colossal — seen  of  every  land, 

And  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure, 

Till  in  all  lauds  and  thro'  all  human  story 

The  path  of  duty  he  the  way  to  glory. 

******** 

And  let  the  land  whose  hearths  he  saved  from  shame 

For  many  and  many  an  age  proclaim, 

At  civic  revel  and  pomp  and  game, 

And  when  the  long-illumined  cities  llame, 

Their  ever  loyal  iron  lender's  fame, 

With  honor,  honor,  honor,  honor  to  him  — 

Eternal  honor  to  his  name." 

[ADDENDA. 

As  it  is  the  desire  of  the  Association  of  Survivors  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  to  preserve  the  annual  addresses  delivered 
before  it  as  historic  memorials,  I  desire  that  my  humble  contri 
bution  to  its  archives  shall  not  pass  on  to  others  any  errors  which 
could  be  avoided;  and  have  therefore  though  proper  to  add  a 
few  explanatory  notes,  respecting  statements  made,  which  may 
lead  to  the  clearing  up  of  controvented  points,  and  to  the  elucida 
tion  of  truth. 

(i).  In  respect  to  the  final  charge  at  Gettysburg,  I  have  said, 
on  page  115,  that  our  left  under  Trimble,  "staggered  at  tJic  start, 
but  soon  regained  their  step,"  In  this  I  am  now  satisfied  that  I 
committed  an  error,  and  that  instead  of  General  Trimble's  line 
wavering  at  the  start,  it  was  the  line  of  General  Pettigrew  that 
did  so.  From  General  Trimble  I  have  received  a  letter,  in  which 
he  shows  that  the  remark  is  erroneous,  and  I  do  not  now  doubt 
but  that  his  line,  which  supported  Pettigrew's,  has  been  con- 

*The  verbiage  of  this  line  has  been  slightly  changed,  from  the  text  of  Tennyson's  noble 
ode,  to  suit  the  occasion. 


124  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

founded  with  it — and  hence  the   mistake  made  by  others  and 
followed  by  myself. 

(2).  On  page  115, 'I  have  said,  "Pettigrew's  and  Trimble's  men 
had  brokon  before  the  tornado  of  canister  in  their  front,  and  had 
disappeared''  For  this  observation  what  seemed  ample  authority 
was  before  me,  for  not  only  was  it  sustained  by  the  current  his 
tories,  but  it  had  been  officially  recorded  in  General  Longstreet's 
report,  wherein  he  says :  "  The  enemy's  batteries  soon  opened  upon 
our  lines  with  canister,  and  the  left  seemed  to  stagger  under  it, 
but  the  advance  was  resumed  and  with  some  degree  of  steadiness. 
Pickett's  troops  did  not  appear  to  be  checked  by  the  batteries, 
and  only  halted  to  deliver  a  fire  when  close  under  musket  range. 
Major-General  Anderson's  division  was  ordered  forward  to  support 
and  assist  the  wavering  columns  of 'Petti 'grew  and  Tiniblc.  Pickett's 
troops,  after  delivering  fire,  advanced  to  the  charge  and  entered 
the  enemy's  lines,  capturing  some  of  his  batteries  and  gained 
his  wrorks.  About  the  same  moment  tlie  troops  tliat  liad  before 
hesitated,  broke  their  ranks  and  fell  back  in  great  disorder,  many 
more  falling  under  the  enemy's  fire  in  retreating  than  whilst  they 
were  attacking.  .  .  In  a  few  moments  the  enemy,  marching 
against  both  flanks  and  the  front  of  Pickett's  division,  over 
powered  it  and  drove  it  back,  capturing  about  half  of  those  of 
it  who  were  not  killed  or  wounded." 

This  official  document  I  quote  thus  fully  that  it  may  be  seen 
how  well  my  statement  seemed  to  be  verified.  But  General 
Trimble  shows,  in  the  letter  already  referred  to,  that  his  men  are 
not  properly  included  amongst  those  who  failed  to  give  Pickett 
full  support;  and  it  affords  me  great  pleasure  here  to  rectify  an 
error,  which — while  it  could  not  shadow  the  reputation  of  that 
gallant  veteran,  known  to  be  "without  fear  and  without  reproach" 
—has  been  too  long  received  as  historic,  and  does  injustice  to 
his  command.  General  Trimble  states  that  his  men  did  not  leave 
the  field  until  ordered,  and  I  take  leave  to  quote  a  passage  from 
his  letter,  that  full  justice  may  be  done  them.  "My  men,"  says 
he,  "were  the  last  to  leave  the  field.  This  /  know,  as  I  rode  in 
the  line  between  the  brigades  from  the  start  dowrn  to  the  Emmetts- 
burg  road,"  &c.  And  after  some  details,  he  adds:  "Thus  I  aver 
positively  that  my  command  continued  the  assault  after  Pickett's 
men  had  been  repulsed  and  dispersed — not  that  we  fought  longer 
or  better,  but  because  as  a  second  line,  and  having  farther  to 
advance,  we  did  not  reach  the  enemy  quite  as  soon  as  the  troops 
on  our  right,  and  I  knew  it  would  be  fool-hardy  to  continue  the 
combat  with  two  brigades  alone." 

(3.)  On  page  115,  it  is  said:  "Now  it  happened  that  Wilcox 
did  not  close  in  to  Pickett's  right,  thus  leaving  a  gap  open  on  his 


ADDRESS    OF    MAJOR    DANIEL.  12$ 

f 

flank."  This  has  been  the  generally  accepted  version  of  the 
affair,  and  will  be  found  stated  in  Mr.  Swinton's  work,  entitled 
"Decisive  Battles  of  the  War,"  pages  344-347;  in  Mr.  Bates' 
minute  history  of  the  battle,  page  158,  where  it  is  said:  "Wil- 
cox,  instead  of  moving  to  the  left  with  Pickett,  kept  straight  on, 
leaving  Pickctt's  right  uncovered,  and  open  to  a  flank  attack  "; 
and  in  many  other  works  and  sketches,  which  have  fallen  under 
my  eye,  purporting  to  be  historical.  And  it  consisted  with  the 
statement  of  General  Longstreet's  official  report,  that  "the  enemy, 
marching  against  both  flanks  and  the  front  of  Pickett's  division, 
overpowered  it."  Of  course,  if  the  right  flank  had  been  protected, 
this  could  not  have  been  done.  But  I  have  recently  understood 
that  General  Wilcox  does  not  concur  in  the  above  account,  which 
I  adopted  upon  the  authorities  referred  to ;  and  I  regret  that  I 
have  not  been  able  to  get,  in  time  for  this  publication,  his  views  in 
detail.  Xo  reflection  was  made  or  intended  upon  him  ;  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  lie  and  others  who  directed  or  saw  the 
movements  during  this  stage  of  the  battle,  will  make  clear  what 
they  really  were. 

I  conclude  with  the  request  that  any  one  who  may  notice  any 
error  in  my  statements,  will  be  kind  enough  to  call  my  attention 
to  it. 

J.  W.  D.] 

After  the  address  of  Major  Daniel,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Heros 
Von  Borcke,  late  of  General  Stuart's  staff,  now  of  the  Prussian 
army,  and  Major  I.  Scheibert,  of  the  Royal  Prussian  Engineers, 
were  elected  members  of  the  Association. 

Rev.  J.  William  Jones  was  requested  to  prepare  a  roster  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for  the  ensuing  year: 

President—  General  W '.  H.  F.  LEE. 

ViccrPrisidents— General  Robert  Ransom,  General  Marry  Heth, 
General  A.  L.  Long,  General  William  Terry,  Captain  D.  B  Mc- 
Corkle. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Secretaries— Sergeants  George  L.  Christian  and  Lcroy  S. 
Edwards. 

Executive  Committee — General  B.  T.  Johnson,  Colonel  Thomas 
H.  Carter,  Major  T.  A.  Brancler,  Major  Walter  K.  Martin,  Private 
Carlton  McCarthy. 


126  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


THE  BANQUET. 

The  Association  and  their  invited  guests  then  repaired  to 
Monticello  Hall,  where  a  sumptuous  banquet  was  spread,  and 
most  effective  speeches  were  made  by  Ex-Governor  John 
Letcher,  Ex-Governor  (General)  William  Smith,  General  W.  H.  F. 
Lee,  General  W.  H.  Payne,  General  Fitz.  Lee,  Major  Robert 
Stiles,  General  B.  T.  Johnson,  Colonel  H.  E.  Peyton,  Dr.  Thorn, 
Captain  Thomas  Whitehead,  Captain  H.  R.  Garden,  General  J. 
A.  Walker,  General  Early,  Major  J.  W.  Daniel  and  others. 

The  unveiling  of  the  Jackson  statue  the  day  before  had  attracted 
a  large  crowd  of  old  Confederates,  and  the  public  meeting  and 
the  banquet  were,  therefore,  both  splendid  successes. 


SIXTH  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


On  the  evening  of  November  2d,  1876,  the  Hall  of  the  House 
of  Delegates,  State  Capitol  at  Richmond,  was  packed  to  its 
utmost  capacity  with  a  brilliant  audiance. 

In  the  absence  of  the  President,  General  Harry  Heth,  Vice- 
President,  presided  over  the  meeting. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  William   Jones   opened  the  exercises  with  prayer. 

General  Heth  appropriately  introduced  as  orator  of  the  eve 
ning  Captain  W.  Gordon  McCabe,  of  Petersburg,  who  had  served 
so  gallantly  as  private  in  the  Richmond  Howitzers  and  Adjutant 
of  the  lamented  Colonel  Willie  Pegram,  the  heroic  "  boy  artillerist." 

Captain  McCabe  was  received  with  deafening  applause,  and 
held  his  audiance  spell  bound  to  the  close  of  his  splendid 
address. 

ADDRESS  OF  CAPTAIN  W.  GORDON  McCABE. 

Comrades  of  the  Army  of  Xortlicrn  Virginia — I  am  here  in 
obedience  to  your  orders  and  give  you  a  soldier's  greeting. 

It  has  fallen  to  me,  at  your  behest,  to  attempt  the  story  of  a 
defence''1'  more  masterly  in  happy  reaches  of  generalship  than 
that  of  Sebastopol,  and  not  less  memorable  than  that  of  Zaragoza 
in  a  constancy  which  rose  superior  to  accumulating  disaster,  and 
a  stern  valor  ever  reckoned  highest  by  the  enemy. 

It  is  a  great  task,  nor  do  I  take  shame  to  myself  that  I  am  not 
equal  to  it,  for,  speaking  soberly,  it  is  a  story  so  fraught  with 
true  though  mournful  glory — a  story  so  high  and  noble  in  its. 
persistent  lesson  of  how  great  things  may  be  wrested  by  human 
skill  and  valor  from  the  malice  of  Fortune — that  even  a  Thu- 
cydides  or  a  Napier  might  suffer  his  nervous  pencil  to  droop, 
lost,  perchance,  in  wonder  at  the  surprising  issues  which  genius, 
with  matchless  spring,  extorted  time  and  again  from  cruel  odds, 
or  stirred  too  deeply  for  utterance  by  that  which  ever  kindles 
the  hearts  of  brave  men — the  spectacle  of  human  endurance 
meeting  with  unshaken  front  the  very  stroke  of  Fate. 

And  if  intensity  of  sorrowful  admiration  might  not  unnatu 
rally  paralyze  the  hand  of  the  historian,  who  should  undertake 

*From  a  strictly  military  point  of  view,  the  term  "siege"'  cannot  properly  be  applied  to 
tli"  operations  around  Petersburg-,  for  there  was  1  tckintr  what,  according  to  Vauban,  "is  the 
first  requisite  in  a  siege— perfect  investment."  The  .same  is  true  of  Sjba.stopol. 


128  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

to  transmit  to  posterity  a  truthful  record  of  the  unequal  contest, 
what  mortal  among  men  could  stand  forth  undismayed,  when 
bidden  to  trace  even  the  outlines  of  the  story  in  presence  of  the 
survivors  of  that  incomparable  army,  the  followers  of  that  match 
less  leader — veterans,  to  whom  it  has  been  given  to  see  its  every 
episode  emblazoned  in  crimson  letters  by  the  very  God  of 
Battles. 

And  yet  it  is  because  of  this  presence  that  I  stand  here  not 
unwillingly  to-night — -for  when  I  look  down  upon  these  bronzed 
and  bearded  faces,  I  cannot  but  remember  that  we  have  shared 
together  the  rough  delights,  the  toils,  the  dangers  of  field  of 
battle,  and  march  and  bivouac,  and  feel  sure  of  indulgence  in 
advance  from  those  who  are  knit  to  even  the  humblest  comrade 
by  a  companionship  born  of  common  devotion  to  that  Cause* 
which  is  yet  "strong  with  the  strength"  of  Truth,  and  "im 
mortal  with  the  immortality"  of  Right — born  of  such  common 
devotion,  nurtured  in  the  fire  of  battle,  strengthened  and  sancti 
fied  by  a  common  reverence  for  the  valiant  souls  who  have  fallen 
on  sleep. 

It  is  not  mine,  comrades,  to  dazzle  you  with  the  tricks  of 
rhetoric,  nor  charm  your  ear  with  smoothly  flowing  periods ;  but 
even  were  such  mastery  given  to  me,  it  would  scarce  befit  my 
theme — for  we  have  now  to  trace  the  history  of  the  army  to 
which  we  belonged,  not  in  its  full  blaze  of  triumph,  as  when  it 
wrote  Richmond  and  Chancellorsville  upon  its  standards,  but  in 
those  last  eventful  days  when  its  strength  was  well-nigh  "  too 
;slender  to  support  the  weight  of  victory";  we  have  now  to  mark 
the  conduct  of  its  leader,  not  as  when,  the  favored  child  of  Mars, 
tfoe  clangor  of  his  trumpets  from  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg 
haughtily  challenged  the  admiration  of  astonished  nations,  but 
in  that  severer  glory  which  shines  round  about  him  as  he  stands 
at  bay,  girt  with  a  handful  of  devoted  soldiery,  staying  the  arm 
•of  Fate  with  an  incredible  vigor  of  action  and  a  consummate 
mastery  of  his  art,  and,  still  unsubdued  in  mind,  delivers  his 
last  battle  as  fiercely  as  his  first. 

And  in  the  prosecution  of  the  task  confided  to  me — in 
my  attempts  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  testimony  of  eye-wit 
nesses,  in  sifting  hostile  reports,  and  in  testing  by  official  data 
the  statements  of  writers  who  have  essayed  the  story  of  this 
final  campaign — although  at  times  it  has  seemed  well-nigh  a 
hopeless  labor,  and  more  than  once  recalled  the  scene  in  Sterne's 
inimitable  masterpiece,  in  which  Mr.  Shandy,  taking  My  Uncle 
Toby  kindly  by  the  hand,  cries  out,  "Believe  me,  dear  brother 
Toby,  these  military  operations  of  yours  are  far  above  your 
strength,"  yet,  remembering  the  spirited  reply  of  My  Uncle 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  1 2Q 

Toby,  "What  care  I,  brother,  so  it  be  for  the  good  of  the 
nation," — even  so  have  I  been  upheld,  reflecting  that  if  it  should 
be  my  good  fortune  to  restore  to  its  true  light  and  bearing  even 
one  of  the  many  actions  of  this  vigorous  campaign,  which  may 
have  been  heretofore  misrepresented  through  ignorance  or 
through  passion,  it  would  be  counted  as  a  service,  however 
humble,  to  that  army,  whose  just  renown  can  never  be  too  jeal 
ously  guarded  by  the  men  who  were  steadfast  to  their  colors. 

That  I  should  attempt  a  critical  examination  of  that  defence 
in  detail,  is  manifestly  impossible  within  the  limits  of  an  address, 
when  it  is  remembered  that,  south  of  the  Appomattox  alone, 
thirteen  pitched  fights  were  delivered  outside  the  works,  beside 
numberless  "affairs"  on  the  part  of  the  cavalry  and  small  bodies 
of  infantry,  while  each  day  was  attended  by  a  number  of  minor 
events,  which,  taken  separately,  appear  to  be  of  little  historical 
importance,  but,  when  combined,  exerted  no  mean  influence  on 
the  conduct  of  the  campaign. 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the  time  yet  come,  in  the  opinion 
of  many  officers  of  sound  and  sober  judgment,  for  that  larger 
treatment  of  my  theme  which  would  necessitate  an  impartial 
examination  of  the  measure  to  which  the  military  operations 
were  shaped  by  considerations  of  a  political  character — in  other 
words,  the  time  has  not  yet  come  when  one  ma}'  use  the  fearless 
frankness  of  Xapier,  who  justly  reckons  it  the  crowning  proof  of 
the  genius  of  Wellington,  that  while  resisting  with  gigantic  vigor 
the  fierceness  of  the  French,  he  had  at  the  same  time  to  "sustain 
the  weakness  of  three  inefficient  cabinets." 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  notice  some  of  the  leading  events  of 
the  campaign  in  its  unity,  which  will  indicate  the  general  concep 
tion  of  the  defence  of  Petersburg,  animated  by  no  other  feeling 
towards  the  many  brave  men  and  officers  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  than  one  of  heart}'  admiration  for  their  courage  and 
endurance,  desirous,  above  all,  that  truth,  so  far  as  we  can  attain 
it  now,  shall  be  spoken  with  soldierly  bluntness,  and  error  be 
not  perpetuated. 

And  at  the  very  outset,  it  is  not  only  pertinent,  but  essential 
to  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  conduct  of  affairs,  that  we  should 
consider  the  morale  of  the  two  armies  as  they  prepared  to  move 
into  those  vast  lines  of  circumvallation  and  contravallation,  des 
tined  to  become  more  famous  than  Torres  Vedras  or  those  drawn 
by  the  genius  of  Turenne  in  the  great  wars  of  the  Palatinate. 
The  more  so,  that  the  most  distinguished  of  Lee's  foreign  critics 
has  declared  that  from  the  moment  Grant  sat  down  before  the 
lines  of  Richmond,  the  Commander  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  saw  that  the  inevitable  blow  "might  be  delayed,  but 


I3O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

could  not  be  averted."*  Other  writers,  with  mawkish  affectation 
of  humanity,  little  allied  to  sound  military  judgment,  have  gone 
still  further,  and  asserted  that  the  struggle  had  assumed  a  phase 
so  hopeless,  that  Lee  should  have  used  the  vantage  of  his  great 
position  and  stopped  the  further  effusion  of  blood.  Let  us,  the 
survivors  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  authoritatively  de 
clare  in  reply,  that  such  was  not  the  temper  of  our  leader  nor 
the  temper  of  his  men. 

It  would,  indeed,  have  been  an  amazing  conclusion  for  either 
army  or  General  to  have  reached  as  the  lesson  of  the 

CAMPAIGN    FROM    THE    WILDERNESS    TO    COLD    HARBOR. 

Grant  had  carried  into  the  Wilderness  a  well-officered  and 
thoroughly-equipped  army  of  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thou 
sand  men,  to  which  Lee  had  opposed  a  bare  fifty  thousand. f 
Despite  these  odds,  Lee  had  four  times  forced  his  antagonist  to 
change  that  line  of  operations  on  which  he  emphatically  declared 
he  "proposed  to  fight  it  out  if  it  took  all  summer."  He  had 
sent  him  reeling  and  dripping  with  blood  from  the  jungles  of  the 
Wilderness,  though  foiled  himself  of  decisive  victory  by  a  capri 
cious  fortune,  which  struck  down  his  trusted  lieutenant  in  the 
very  act  of  dealing  the  blow,  which  his  chief,  in  a  true  inspiration 
of  genius,  had  swiftly  determined  to  deliver;  barring  the  way 
again  with  fierce  and  wary  caution,  after  a  grim  wrestle  of  twelve 
days  and  twelve  nights,  he  had  marked  the  glad  alacrity  with 
which  the  General,  who  but  a  few  weeks  before  had  interrupted 
the  prudent  Meade  with  the  remark,  "Oh,  I  never  manoeuvre," 
now  turned  his  back  on  the  blood-stained  thickets  of  Spotsyl- 
vania,  and  by  "  manoeuvring  towards  his  left,"*  sought  the  pas 
sage  of  the  North  Anna — seeking  it  only  to  find,  after  crossing 
the  right  and  left  wings  of  his  army,  that  his  wary  antagonist, 
who,  unlike  himself,  did  not  disdain  to  manoeuvre,  had,  by  a  rare 
tactical  movement,  inserted  a  wedge  of  gray  tipped  with  steel,, 
riving  his  army  in  sunder,  forcing  him  to  recross  the  river,  and 
for  the  third  time  abandon  his  line  of  attack.  Then  it  was  that 
the  Federal  commander,  urged,  mayhap,  to  the  venture  by  the 
needs  of  a  great  political  party,  whose  silent  clamors  for  sub 
stantial  victory  smote  more  sharply  on  his  inner  ear  than  did  the 
piteous  wail  which  rose  from  the  countless  Northern  homes  for 

*  Colonel  Chesney.— Essays  in  Military  Biography,  page  119. 

t  Staunton's  report,  1865-'66 ;  General  Early's  able  article  In  Southern  Historical  Papers* 
volume  II,  July,  1876:  Lee's  letter  to  General 'David  Hunter,  U.  S.  A.;  Lee's  letter  (October, 
4th,  1867)  to  Colonel  C.  A.  White;  Swinton,  A.  P.,  pag<-  413. 

t"The  13th,  14th.  15th.  16th,  17th  and  18th  (of  May)  were  consumed  in  manoeuvring  and 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  from  Washington."— Grant's  report  of  campaign.  At 
this  time  Lee  had  not  been  reinforced  by  a  single  man. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE. 


( i- 


the  forty-five  thousand  brave  men  whose  bodies  lay  putrefyin 
in  the  tangled  Golgotha  from  Rapidan  to  North  Anna — urged 
by  these  clamors,  or  else  goaded  into  unreasoning  fury  by  the 
patient  readiness  of  his  adversary,  ordered  up  sixteen  thousand 
of  Butler's  men  from  south  of  the  James,  and  at  break  of  day 
on  June  the  3d  assaulted  Lee's  entire  front — resolute  to  burst 
through  the  slender,  adamantine  barrier,  which  alone  stayed  the 
mighty  tide  of  conquest,  that  threatened  to  roll  onward  until  it 
mingled  with  the  waves  of  Western  victory,  which  were  even 
then  roaring  through  the  passes  of  Alatoona — resolute,  yet,  like 
Lord  Angelo,  "  slipping  grossly,"  through  "heat  of  blood  and 
lack  of  tempered  judgment" — for  the  slender  barrier  yielded  not, 
but  when  subsided  the  dreadful  flood,  which  for  a  few  brief  mo 
ments  had  foamed  in  crimson  fury  round  the  embattled  slopes  of 
Cold  Harbor,  there  was  left  him  but  the  wreck  of  a  noble  army, 
which  in  sullen  despair  refused  longer  to  obey  his  orders,* 

CONFIDENCE    OF    THE    ARMY    OF    NORTHERN    VIRGINIA. 

Such  was  the  retrospect  of  this  thirty  days'  campaign  to  Lee, 
as  he  sat  in  his  simple  tent  pitched  upon  the  very  ground,  whence, 
but  two  years  before,  with  positions  reversed,  he  had  driven 
McClellan  in  rout  and  disaster  to  the  James;  and  though  Lee, 
the  man,  was  modest,  he  was  but  mortal,  and  Lee,  the  soldier, 
could  but  be  conscious  of  his  own  genius,  and  having  proved  the 
matchless  temper  of  the  blade,  which  Providence,  or  Destiny,  or 
call  it  what  you  will,  had  placed  within  his  hands,  we  may  be 
sure  that  his  heart  was  stirred  with  high  hopes  of  his  country's 
deliverance,  and  that  through  these  hopes  his  pliant  genius  was 
inspired  to  discern  in  each  new  difficulty  but  fresh  device.  And 
his  veterans  of  confirmed  hardihood,  watching  the  gracious 
serenity  of  that  noble  face,  conscious  of  the  same  warlike  virtues 
which  made  him  dear  to  them,  caught  up  and  reflected  this  con 
fidence,  remembering  that  he  had  declared  to  them  in  general 
orders  after  Spotsylvania:  "It  is  in  your  power,  under  God,  to 
defeat  the  last  effort  of  the  enemy,  establish  the  independence  of 
your  native  land,  and  earn  the  lasting  love  and  gratitude  of  your 
countrymen  and  the  admiration  of  mankind. "f 

And  to  an  army  intelligent  as  it  was  resolute,  there  was  surely 
much  to  confirm  this  confidence,  outside  enthusiastic  trust  in  the 
resources  of  their  leader. 

The  sobering  consciousness  of  instant  peril  had  quickened 
their  discernment,  and  the  patient  watchers  in  the  swamps  of 

*Swinton,  A.  P.,  page  487;  Draper,  volume  III,  page  387. 
t Lee's  general  order,  May  16th,  1&.C4. 


132  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Chickahominy,  no  longer  deluded  by  the  ignis  fatuus  of  foreign 
intervention,  hopes  of  which  had  been  kindled  anew  in  the  capi 
tal  by  the  fiery  speech  of  Marquis  of  Clanricarde,  regarded  only, 
but  with  eager  exultation,  the  signs  in  camp  and  country  of  the 
enemy.  Mr.  Seward's  thirty  days'  draft  on  victory,  though  given 
to  a  superb  army  for  collection,  and  endorsed  by  the  credulity 
of  the  nation,  had  gone  to  protest,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  now  signified 
his  intention  of  calling  for  five  hundred  thousand  additional  men 
to  enforce  its  payment.* 

No  censorship  of  the  press  could  restrain  the  clamorous  dis 
content,  which  burst  forth  North  and  West,  at  this  proposed  call 
for  half  a  million  more  men,  and 

GOLD, 

4 

that  unfailing  barometer  of  the  hopes  and  fears,  the  joy  and  de 
spair,  of  a  purely  commercial  people,  indicated  clearly  enough 
the  gloomy  forebodings  of  the  nation.  Every  tick  of  the  second 
hand  on  the  dial  registered  an  additional  $35  to  the  national 
debt,  or  $2,100  per  minute,  $126,000  an  hour,  $3,024,000  a  day. 
Ragged  veterans,  leaning  on  the  blackened  guns  in  the  trenches, 
reading  the  newspapers  just  passed  across  the  picket  lines — men 
who  had  left  their  ledgers  and  knew  the  mysteries  of  money — 
marked,  while  their  faces  puckered  with  shrewd  wrinkles  of  suc 
cessful  trade,  the  course  of  the  precious  mercury.  When  Grant 
crossed  the  Rapidan,  gold  had  gone  down  with  a  rush  from  1.89 
to  1.70,')"  and  though,  from  the  Wilderness  on,  Mr.  Stanton — 
who  was  Napoleonic  in  his  bulletins,  if  in  nothing  else — persist 
ently  chronicled  success  whenever  battle  was  joined,  gold  rose 
with  a  like  persistency  after  each  announcement — a  signal  exam 
ple  of  cynical  unbelief  in  a  truly  good  and  great  man. 

True,  for  a  few  days  after  Cold  Harbor,  the  telegraph  wires 
became  mysteriously  "out  of  working  order,"  "owing,"  as  he 
candidly  confesses  to  General  Dix  in  New  York,  "to  violent 
storms  on  the  Peninsula,"  but  the  dreadful  story  gradually  leaked 
out,  and  gold  gave  a  frantic  bound  to  2.03  to  2.30 — before  the 
end  of  the  month  to  2.52 — while  Congress  in  a  flurry  passed  a 
silly  "gold  bill,"  and  the  New  York  Herald  shrieked  out  curses 
against  "Rebel  sympathizers  in  Wall  Street" — as  if  Wall  Street 
ever  sympathized' with  anything  save  the  Almighty  Dollar. 

Of  the  temper  of  the  enemy,  I  myself  do  not  presume  to 
speak,  but  there  are  not  lacking  indications  that  General  Grant's 

*  This  draft  of  five  hundred  thousand  men  was  actually  made  under  act  of  July  4th,  1864. 

t  The  quotations  of  gold  in  this  address  were  tabulated  from  files  of  the  New  York  Herald 

for  TSUI. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    \V.    GORDON    M  CAIJE.  133 

theory  of  action,  which  he  summed  up  in  the  phrase  "to  hammer 
continuously,"  had  become  somewhat  modified  by  experience, 
and  that,  at  this  time,  his  new  evangel  of  "attrition"  found  but 
few  zealous  disciples  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lee  had  lost 
in  the  campaign  between  fifteen  thousand  and  sixteen  thousand 
men* — veterans,  whose  lives,  it  is  true,  regarding  them  simply 
as  soldiers,  were  precious  beyond  numerical  reckoning.  Of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  not  counting  tJic  losses  in  tlic  Tcntli  and 
EigJitccntli  corps,  which  had  been  called  up  to  take  part  in  the 
battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  more  than  sixty  thousand  men  had  been 
put  Jiors  dn  combat,  including  three  thousand  officers — a  loss 
greater  by  ten  thousand  than  the  total  force  which  Lee  had 
carried  into  the  Wilderness. f  "Had  not  success  dsiiclicrc  come 
to  brighten  the  horizon,"  says  the  historian  of  that  army,  "it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  have  raised  new  forces  to  recruit  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  which,  shaken  in  its  structure,  its  valor 
quenched  in  blood,  and  thousands  of  its  ablest  officers  killed  and 
wounded,  was  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  no  more." 

This  apparent  digression  from  my  theme  has  seemed  to  me, 
comrades,  not  impertinent,  because,  as  I  have  said,  the  temper 
of  this  army  at  that  time  has  been  misunderstood  by  some  and 
misrepresented  by  others;  because  the  truth  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  will  alone  enable  those  who  come  after  us  to  understand 
how  such  a  handful,  ill-appointed  and  ill-fed,  maintained  for  so 
long  a  time  against  overwhelming  odds  the  fiercest  defence  of 
modern  times.  Nay,  more,  I  believe  that  when  the  truth  shall  be 
tolel  touching  this  eventful  campaign,  it  will  be  shown  that  at  no 
time  during  the  war  had  the  valor  of  this  army  and  the  skill  of 
its  leader  been  so  near  to  compelling  an  honorable  peace  as  in 
the  days  immediatel}'  succeeding  Cold  Harbor.  Such  is  the 
testimony  of  Federal  officers  high  in  rank,  whose  courage  you 
admired  in  war  and  whose  magnanimity  you  have  appreciated  in 
peace.  Mr.  Greeley,  in  his  "History  of  the  Rebellion,"  says 
emphatically,  these  were  "the  very  darkest  hours  of  our  contest 
— those  in  which  our  loyal  people  most  profoundly  despaired  of 
its  successful  issue. "T  Swinton,  a  shrewd  observer  and  candid 
historian,  says:  "So  gloomy  was  th^5  military  outlook  after  the 
action  on  the  Chickahominy,  and  to  such  a  degree  by  consequence 

*Ou  May  Hist,  Lee.  according  to  the  return5*,  had  fortv-four  thousand  t\vo  hundred  and 
forty-seven  men.  Allowing  him  lifty  Thousand  men  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  and 
nine  thousand  reinforcements  at  Hanover  Courthouse,  his  loss  wuiild  be  fourteen  thousand 
s  -veil  hundred  and  fifty-three.  To  this  we  must  add  his  loss  at  Cold  Harbor,  which  was  but 
a  few  hundreds.  Swinton  (page  4'.)4,>  says  thai  •'/'//«'  .1  /•//<//  »f  tin-  r»t<nn<if  Inxt  at  Icaxt  tn-t;/iti/ 
it  ten  t<>  Lee'x  one"  in  that  battle,  and  puts  Grant's  loss  at  thirteen  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three. 

1  Swinton,  page  491.  f 

;IIe  embraces  period  from  Cold  Harbor  to  Crater,  inclusive. 


134  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

had  the  moral  spring  of  the  public  mind  become  relaxed,  that 
there  was  at  this  time  great  danger  of  a  collapse  of  the  war." 
And  he  adds,  significantly:  "The  archives  of  the  State  Depart 
ment,  when  one  day  made  public,  will  show  how  deeply  the 
Government  was  affected  by  the  want  of  military  success,  and  to 
7if/ hat  resolutions  tJie  Executive  Jiad  in  consequence  come"*  But, 
alas!  the  " success  elsewhere,"  of  which  the  historian  speaks, /w<^ 
"come  to  brighten  the  horizon,"  and,  continuing,  quickened  into 
vigorous  action  the  vast  resources  of  the  North. 

Grant,  reinforced  by  over  thirty  thousand  men  at  Spotsylvania,f 
was  heavily  reinforced  again;  and  putting  aside  with  great  firm 
ness  the  well  known  wishes  of  the  Federal  Executive,  prepared 
to  change  his  strategy  for  the  fifth  time,  and 

ASSAIL    RICHMOND    FROM    THE    SOUTH. 

It  was  a  determination  based  upon  the  soundest  military  prin 
ciples,  for  from  that  direction  could  an  assailant  hope  to  bring  to 
bear  with  greatest  assurance  of  success  that  cardinal  maxim  of 
military  strategy,  "operate  on  the  communications  of  the  enemy 
without  endangering  your  own."  Though  the  plan  was  now 
for  the  first  time  to  be  put  to  the  test,  it  was  no  new  conception. 
McClellan  had  proposed  it  to  Halleck,J  when  that  General  vis 
ited  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  after  what  was  euphemistically 
termed  "  its  strategic  change  of  base  to  the  James,"  but  the  Chief 
of  the  Staff  curtly  rejected  it  as  "impracticable."  Lee,  cautious 
of  speech,  had  not  hesitated  to  say  to  friends  here  in  Richmond 
that  the  good  people  of  the  town  might  go  to  their  beds  without 
misgiving,  so  long  as  the  enemy  assailed  the  capital  north  and 
east,  and  left  unvexed  his  communications  with  the  Carolinas. 
General  Grant  himself,  while  still  in  the  West,  had  urged  upon 
the  Government  the  adoption  of  this  plan,  which,  in  his  eyes, 
was  identical  in  its  main  features  with  that  which  had  won  for 
him  the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg.  Why,  when  invested  with 
supreme  command,  he  should  have  rejected  a  plan  which  his 
judgment  had  approved  but  a  year  before,  and  adopted  only  after 
the  loss  of  sixty  thousand  veteran  troops  a  line  of  advance  open 
to  him  at  the  outset  without  firing  a  gun — is  one  of  the  myste 
ries  of  war,  the  key  to  which  is  most  likely  to  be  found  in  the 
political  history  of  the  time. 

*  Swinton,  page  495,  note. 

t  As  the  Secretary  of  War  denies  access  to  the  archives  at  Washington,  it  is  impossible  to 
state  the  precise  figures.  Mr.  Stanfon.  in  his  report,  says:  "  Meanwhile,  in  order  to  repair 
the  losses  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  th»  chief  jmrt  of  the  forca  designed  to  guard  the 
Middle  Department  (Baltimore)  and  the  Department  of  Washington  (in  all  forty-seven  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  lifty-one  men;  \vas  called  forward  to  the  front." 

\  Memorandum  of  Halleck  (July  '27th,  18G2),  in  Keport  on  Conduct  WTar,  Part  I,  page  454. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M'CABE.  135 

Resolved  upon  this  last  change  of  base,  General  Grant  pressed 
its  execution.  From  the  4th  to  the  iith  of  June,  by  a  gradual 
withdrawal  of  his  right  flank,  he  had  placed  his  army  within 
easy  marches  of  the  lower  crossings  of  the  Chickahominy,  and 
Sheridan,  meanwhile,  having  been  dispatched  to  destroy  the 
Virginia  Central  railroad  and  effect  a  junction  with  Hunter,  on 
Sunday  night,  June  1 2th, 

THE    ARMY    OF    THE    POTOMAC    WAS    PUT    IN    MOTION    FOR    THE 

JAMES. 

Warren,  with  the  Fifth  corps  and  Wilson's  division  of  cavalry, 
seizing  the  crossing  at  Long  bridge,  made  his  dispositions  to 
screen  the  movement.  Hancock's  corps,  marching  past  the 
Fifth,  was  directed  upon  Wilcox's  Landing;  Wright's  and  Burn- 
side's  corps  upon  Douthat's,  while  Smith,  with  four  divisions  of 
the  Tenth  and  Eighteenth  corps,  moved  rapidly  to  White  H6use 
and  embarked  for  Bermuda  Hundred.* 

Farly  on  the  morning  of  the  1 3th,  Warren,  who  executed  his 
critical  task  with  marked  address,  pushed  forward  Crawford's 
division  on  the  New  Market  road,  and  compelling  the  few  Con 
federate  squadrons  of  observation  to  retire  across  White  Oak 
swamp, threatened  direct  advance  on  Richmond,  while  the  activity 
of  his  powerful  horse  completely  shrouded  for  the  time  the 
movement  in  his  rear. 

Lee  did  not  attack, f  for  Farly  had  been  detached  for  the  de 
fence  of  Lynchburg,  and  the  main  body  of  his  cavalry  being 
absent  under  Hampton,  he  was  compelled,  like  the  Great  Frede 
rick,  when  Traun's  Pandours  enveloped  Silesia  in  midnight,  "to 
read  his  position  as  if  by  flashes  of  lightning."  On  the  next 
day,  however,  a  small  body  of  horse,  under  W7.  H.  F.  Lee,  boldly 
charging  the  enemy,  drove  them  hotly  past  Malvern  Hill,  and  on 
the  same  evening  Lee  received  accurate  information  as  to  the 
whereabouts  of  his  adversary. J  But  not  a  man  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  had  as  yet  crossed,  and  the  conjuncture  being  now 
so  nice  that  the  slightest  blunder  would  have  been  attended  with 
irreparable  disaster,  he  drew  back  his  troops  towards  Chaffin's, 
dispatched  Hoke  early  on  the  I5th  from  Drewry's  Bluff  to  re 
inforce  Bcauregard,  and  stood  ready  to  repel  direct  advance  by 
the  river  routes  or  to  throw  his  army  into  Petersburg,  as  events 
might  dictate. 

*  Swiuton,  A.  P.,  page  493. 

t  Wilcox's  division  of  Hill's  corps  and  Pe«ram's  artillery  were  sent  down  to  develop  the 
position  of  the  enemy,  and  there  was  some  sharp  skirmishing  on  the  14th,  but  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  an  attack. 

i  Lee's  dispatch,  9  P.  M.,  June  14th,  1SC4. 


136  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Grant's  design,  as  we  now  know,  was  to 

SEIZE    PETERSBURG    BY    A    COUP    DE    MAIN, 

and  it  had  certainly  succeeded  but  for  an  incredible  negligence 
on  his  own  part. 

Smith's  command  reached  Bermuda  Hundred,  where  Grant 
was  in  person,*  on  the  evening  of  the  I4th,  and  being  reinforced 
by  Kautz's  divison  of  cavalry  and  Hink's  divison  of  negro  in 
fantry,  was  at  once  directed  to  cross  the  Appomattox  at  Point  of 
Rocks,  where  pontoons  had  been  laid,  and  to  move  rapidly  on 
Petersburg^  The  passage  of  the  river  was  effected  during  the 
same  night,  and  early  on  the  I5th  Smith  advanced  in  three  col 
umns — Kautz  with  his  horsemen  covering  his  left.  Now,  Han 
cock's  entire  corps  had  been  ferried  to  the  south  side  on  the 
night  of  Smith's  arrival  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  might  easily 
havd  been  pushed  forward  to  take  part  in  the  assault,  but,  left  in 
ignorance  of  the  projected  coup  dc  main,  its  commander,  in  obe 
dience  to  orders,  was  awaiting  rations  where  he  had  crossed.  In 
credible  as  it  may  seem,  General  Meade,  the  immediate  com 
mander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  left  in  like  ignorance, f 
and  General  Grant,  hurrying  back  to  the  north  side  to  push  for 
ward  reinforcements  from  the  corps  of  Wright  and  Burnside, 
found  that  the  army  pontoon  train  had  been  sent  to  piece  out  the 
wagon  train  pontoons,  which  had  proved  insufficient  for  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Chickahominy  at  Coles'  ferry.  Thus  nearly  a  day 
was  gained  to  the  handful  of  brave  men  defending  the  lines  of 
Petersburg,  and  lost  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — a  curious 
instance  of  the  uncertain  contingencies,  of  war,  reminding  the 
military  student,  with  a  difference,  of  the  happy  chance  which 
saved  Zaragoza  in  the  first  siege,  when  Lefebre  Desnouettes, 
"  missing  the  road  to  the  bridge,  missed  that  to  victory." 

Smith,  pushing  forward  his  columns  towards  Petersburg  early 
on  the  morning  of  the  1 5th,  had  scarcely  advanced  a  distance 
of  two  miles,  when  he  encountered  a  hasty  line  of  rifle  trenches, 
held  by  Graham's  light  battery  and  a  meagre  force  of  dismounted 
cavalry — the  whole  under  Bearing,  a  young  brigadier  of  high 
and  daring  spirit  and  of  much  experience  in  war.  This  position, 
resolutely  held  for  two  hours,  was  finally  carried  by  the  infantry, 
yet  Bearing,  retiring  slowly  with  unabashed  front,  hotly  disputing 
every  foot  of  the  advance,  so  delayed  the  hostile  columns  that  it 
was  1 1  o'clock  A.  M.  before  they  came  upon  the  heavy  line  of 
entrenchments  covering  the  eastern  approaches  to  the  town. 

*  Grant  anil  His  Campaigns,  pago  348.  t  Swinton,  pages  499  and  503-506. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  137 


FIRST    ASSAULT    ON    PETERSBURG. 

Shortly  after  that  hour,  Smith  moved  by  the  Baxter  road  upon 
the  works  in  front  of  Batteries  Six  and  Seven,  but  the  men  of  Wise's 
brigade  resisted  his  repeated  assaults  with  "unsurpassed  stub 
bornness" — I  use  the  exact  language  of  Beauregard* — while  the 
rapid  fire  of  the  light  batteries  completed  for  the  time  his  dis 
comfiture. 

Smith  had  been  told  that  the  works  defending  Petersburg  were 
such  that  "  cavalry  could  ride  over  them"-— "a  representation," 
says  Mr.  Swinton  archly,  "not  justified  by  his  experience,"  and 
he  now  proceeded  to  reconnoitre  more  carefully  what  was  in  his 
front. 

THE  OLD  DEFENCES  OF  PETERSBURG 

consisted  of  a  heavy  line  of  redans  connected  by  powerful  rifle 
trenches,  and  were  of  such  extent  as  to  require  a  garrison  of 
twenty-five  thousand  men.  In  the  opinion  of  General  Beaure 
gard,  this  line  was  in  many  places  faultily  located,  and  especially 
vulnerable  in  the  quarter  of  Batteries  Five,  Six  and  Seven. 
Reckoning  his  heavy  gunners  and  the  local  militia,  Beauregard 
had  for  the  defence  of  this  extended  line,  on  the  morning  of  the 
15th,  but  two  thousand  two  hundred  men  of  all  arms,  while 
Smith  confronted  him  with  above  twenty  thousand  troops.  At 
7.30  P.  M.  the  enemy,  warned  by  their  heavy  losses  of  the  morn 
ing  against  assaulting  in  column  in  face  of  artillery  served  with  such 
rapidity  and  precision,  advanced  at  a  charging  pace  in  line,  and 
after  a  spirited  contest  carried  with  a  rush  the  whole  line  of 
redans  from  five  to  nine  inclusive. 

Scarcely  had  the  assault  ended,  when  Hancock  came  up  with 
the  Second  corps,  and  though  the  ranking  officer,  with  rare  gene 
rosity,  which  recalls  the  chivalric  conduct  of  Sir  James  Outram 
to  Havelock  in  front  of  Lucknow.t  at  once  offered  his  troops  to 
Smith,  and  stood  ready  to  receive  the  orders  of  his  subordinate. 

THE    PRIZE    WAS    NOW    WITHIN    HIS    GRASP 

had  he  boldly  advanced — and  the  moon  shining  brightly  highly 
favored  such  enterprise — but  Smith,  it  would  seem,  though  pos 
sessed  of  considerable  professional  skill,  was  not  endowed  with 
that  intuitive  sagacity  which  swiftly  discerns  the  chances  of  the 

*  For  the  Confcderat*  operations  from  the  if  th  to  the  19tti  Jane,  inclusive,  I  am  greatly  in 
debted  to  General  Beanregard's  MS.  report,  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal. 

t  Ontram's  divisional  order  on  night  of  September  16th,  1S57. — Brock's  Life  of  Havelock, 
page  -213. 

10 


138  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

moment,  and  thus  halting  on  the  very  threshold  of  decisive  vic 
tory,  contented  himself  with  partial  success,  and  having  relieved 
his  divisions  in  the  captured  works  with  Hancock's  troops, 
waited  for  the  morning. 

Meanwhile,  Hoke  had  arrived  on  the  Confederate  side,  and 
Beauregard,  having  disposed  his  meagre  force  upon  a  new  line  a 
short  distance  in  rear  of  the  lost  redans,  ordered  down  Bushrod 
Johnson's  three  brigades  from  the  Bermuda  Hundred  front,  and 
made  such  preparation  as  was  possible  for  the  assault  of  the 
morrow. 

SECOND  DAY'S  ASSAULTS. 

The  situation  was  indeed  critical,  for  though  the  enemy 
assaulted  but  feebly  the  next  morning,  and  Johnson's  brigades 
arrived  at  10  A.  M.,  there  was  stilksuch  disparity  of  numbers  as 
might  well  have  shaken  the  resolution  of  a  less  determined  com 
mander.  Burnside's  corps  reached  the  Federal  front  at  noon, 
and  General  Meade,  having  met  General  Grant  on  the  City  Point 
road,*  was  directed  to  assume  immediate  command  of  the  troops 
and  assault  as  soon  as  practicable.  Thus  at  5.30  on  the  evening 
of  the  1 6th,  more  than  seventy  thousand  troops  were  launched 
against  the  works  manned  by  but  ten  thousand  brave  men,  a  dis 
parity  still  further  increased  by  the  arrival  at  dusk  of  Warren's 
corps,  two  brigades  of  which — Miles'  and  Griffin's — took  part  in 
the  closing  assaults.  For  three  hours  the  fight  raged  furiously 
along  the  whole  line  with  varying  success,  nor  did  the  contest 
subside  until  after  nine  o'clock,  when  it  was  found  that  Birney, 
of  Hancock's  corps,  had  effected  a  serious  lodgment,  from  which 
the  Confederates  in  vain  attempted  to  expel  him  during  the 
night. 

On  the  same  day  Pickett's  division,  dispatched  by  Lee  and 
leading  the  advance  of  Anderson's  corps,  recaptured  the  lines  on 
the  Bermuda  Hundred  front,  which  Beauregard  had  been  forced 
to  uncover,  and  which  had  been  immediately  seized  by  Butler's 
troops.  It  is  surely  sufficient  answer  to  those  who  represent  Lee 
as  even  then  despondently  forecasting  the  final  issue,  to  find  him 
writing  next  day  in  great  good  humor  to  Anderson:  "I  believe 
that  the  men  of  yeur  corps  will  carry  anything  they  are  put 
against.  We  tried  very  hard  to  stop  Pickett's  men  from  captu 
ring  the  breastworks  of  the  enemy,  but  could  not  do  it."f 

*  Grant  and  His  Campaigns,  page  340. 

t  Lee'd  letter  to  Anderson,  Clay  house,  June  17th,  1864. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  139 


THE    THIRD    DAYS    ASSAULTS. 

Fortunately  for  the  weary  Confederates,  the  enemy  attempted 
no  offensive  movement  until  earl}' noon  of  the  next  day,  at  which 
hour  the  Ninth  corps,  advancing  with  spirit,  carried  a  redoubt  in 
its  front,  together  with  four  pieces  of  artillery  and  several  hun 
dred  prisoners,  while  Hancock's  corps  pressed  back  the  Confede 
rates  over  Hare's  Hill — the  spot  afterwards  known  as  Fort  Stead- 
man,  and  made  famous  by  Gordon's  sudden  and  daring  stroke. 
Later  in  the  day  the  Xinth  corps  attacked  again,  but  were  driven 
back  with  severe  loss. 

GRACIE'S  ALAHAMIANS  TO  THE  RESCUE. 

Then  along  the  whole  front  occurred  a  series  of  assaults  and 
counter  charges  creditable  to  the  courage  and  enterprise  of  both 
sides,  yet  so  confused  that  an  attempted  narrative  would  neces 
sarily  share  that  confusion.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  at  dusk  the 
Confederate  lines  were  pierced,  and,  the  troops  crowding  together 
in  disorder,  irreparable  disaster  seemed  imminent,  when  suddenly 
in  the  dim  twilight  a  dark  column  was  descried  mounting  swiftly 
from  the  ravines  in  rear,  and  Grade's  gallant  Alabamians.  spring 
ing  along  the  crest  with  fierce  cries,  leaped  over  the  works,  cap 
tured  over  fifteen  hundred  prisoners,  and  drove  the  enemy  pell- 
mell  from  the  disputed  point/"  Then  the  combat  broke  out 
afresh,  for  the  enemy,  with  reason,  felt  that  chance  alone  had 
foiled  them  of  decisive  success,  and  despite  the  darkness,  the 
fight  raged  with  unabated  fury  until  past  midnight.  Meanwhile, 

THE    BELEAGUERED    TOWN,  GIRDLED    WITH    STEEL    AND    FIRE, 

bore  herself  with  proud  and  lofty  port,  worthy  her  renown  in 
other  wars,  and  the  fires  of  her  ancient  patriotism,  quickened  by 
the  hot  breath  of  peril,  blazed  forth  with  such  surpassing  bright 
ness  as  pierced  the  darkness  of  that  gloomy  night;  nor  could 
"the  driving  storm  of  war,"  which  beat  so  pitilessly  upon  this 
heroic  city  for  well-nigh  a  twelvemonth,  ever  quench  the  blaze 
which,  even  to  the  end,  shone  as  a  flaming  beacon  to  the  people 
of  the  vexed  Commonwealth  and  to  anxious  patriots,  who  from 
afar  watched  the  issues  of  the  unequal  contest.  Her  men  fitted 
to  bear  arms  were  yonder  with  Lee's  veterans,  and  now  her 

*  "Grade's  brigade  was  promptly  thrown  into  the  <rap  in  the  lines,  and  drove  back  the 
Federals,  capturing  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  prisoners."— Beauregard's  MS. 
report,  page  16. 


140  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

women,  suddenly  environed  by  all  the  dread  realities  of  war,  dis 
covered  a  constancy  and  heroism  befiting  the  wives  and  mothers 
of  such  valiant  soldiers.  Some,  watching  in  the  hospitals,  cheered 
on  the  convalescents,  who,  when  the  sounds  of  battle  grew  nearer, 
rose  like  faithful  soldiers  to  join  their  comrades;  others,  hurry 
ing  along  the  deserted  streets,  the  silence  of  which  was  ever  and 
anon  sharply  broken  by  screaming  shell,  streamed  far  out  on  the 
highways  to  meet  the  wounded  and  bear  them  to  patriot  homes. 
Nor  shall  we  wonder  at  this  devotion,  for  in  the  very  beginning 
of  those  eventful  days,  these  noble  women,  hanging  for  a  few  brief 
moments  on  the  necks  of  gray-haired  grandsires,  or  pressing  the 
morther-kiss  upon  the  brows  of  eager  boys,  had  bidden  them, 
with  eyes  brimming  with  prayerful  tears,  to  go  and  serve  the 
State  upon  the  outer  works;  and  surely,  when  thus  duty  and 
honor  had  weighed  down  the  scale  of  natural  love,  they  had 
learned,  with  an  agony  which  man  can  never  measure,  that  life 
itself  must  be  accounted  as  a  worthless  thing  when  the  safety  of 
a  nation  is  at  stake. 

That  it  is  no  fancy  picture,  comrades,  which  I  have  drawn  for 
you,  is  attested  by  that  battle-tablet  in  old  Blandford  church, 
which  records  the  names  of  the  gray-haired  men  who  fell  in 
defence  of  their  native  town ;  while,  if  you  will  pardon  a  personal 
allusion,  it  afterwards  came  to  me,  as  a  schoolmaster,  to  teach 
some  of  these  veterans'  lads,  who  every  day  came  to  class  with 
empty  sleeves  pinned  across  their  breasts. 

BURNSIDE'S  CAPTURED  DISPATCH. 

The  battle,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  cease  until  half-past  twelve 
on  the  night  of  the  I7th,  and  the  evacuation  of  the  town  seemed 
inevitable,  when,  by  a  happy  accident,  an  officer  of  Burnside's 
staff,  losing  his  way  in  the  darkness,  rode  into  the  Confederate 
lines,  bearing  a  dispatch  from  Burnside  to  Meade  to  the  effect 
that  the  Ninth  corps  had  been  very  roughly  handled  and  should 
be  promptly  reinforced.  This  dispatch  had  been  referred  by 
Meade  to  Smith  for  his  information,  with  the  request  that  he  at 
once  reinforce  Burnside  with  such  troops  as  could  be  spared. 
Scarcely  had  Beauregard  finished  reading  the  captured  missive, 
when  a  courier  galloped  up  with  a  message  from  Hoke,  stating 
that  he  had  easily  replused  Smith's  assaults  and  could  lend  a 
helping  hand  elsewhere.*  But  before  this,  Beauregard,  foresee 
ing  the  rupture  of  his  lines,  as  yet  too  extended  for  the  strength 
of  his  command,  now  materially  weakened  by  recent  casualties, f 

*  Thus  incident  is  vouched  for  by  two  of  General  Beauregard's  staff-officers. 
t  Beauje.gard'3  MS.  report. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    MCABE.  14! 

had  selected  a  new  and  shorter  line  in  rear,  and  shortly  after  the 
combat  ceased  the  troops  were  ordered  to  retire  upon  this  new 
position — a  delicate  movement,  considering  the  proximity  of  the 
enemy,  yet  executed  rapidly  and  without  confusion,  for  he  had 
caused  the  line  to  be  marked  with  white  stakes,  and  required 
brigade  and  division  staff  officers  to  acquaint  themselves  with 
the  positions  to  be  occupied  by  their  respective  commands. 
This  was  the  line  held  until  the  close  of  the  defence. 

ASSAULTS    OF    THE    FOURTH    DAY. 

Grant  had  ordered  Mcade  to  assault  along  the  whole  front  at 
daylight  of  the  i8th,  but  when  the  Federal  skirmishers  moved 
forward  at  that  hour,  it  was  found  that  the  line  so  stoutly  de 
fended  the  evening  before  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Confede 
rates.  This  necessitated  fresh  dispositions,  and  Meade,  having 
reconnoitred  his  front,  now  determined  upon  assault  in  column 
against  certain  selected  points  instead  of  a  general  attack  in  line, 
as  originally  intended. * 

At  8'_>  A.  M.  Kershaw's  division  moved  into  position  on  right 
of  the  Confederate  line,  and  at  9  o'clock 

GEXERAL    LEE    RODE    UPON    THE    FIELD. 

It  was  noon  before  the  enemy  essayed  any  vigorous  attack,  but 
then  began  a  series  of  swift  and  furious  assaults,  continuing  at 
intervals  far  into  the  evening — from  Martindale  on  the  right,  from 
Hancock  and  Burnside  in  the  centre,  from  Warren  on  the  left; 
but  though  their  men  advanced  with  spirit,  cheering  and  at  the 
run,  and  their  officers  displayed  an  astonishing  hardihood,  seve 
ral  of  them  rushing  up  to  within  thirty  yards  of  the  adverse 
works,  bearing  the  colors,  yet  the  huge  columns,  rent  by  the 
plunging  fire  of  the  light  guns,  and  smitten  with  a  tempest  of 
bullets,  recoiled  in  confusion,  and  finally  fled,  leaving  their  dead 
and  dying  on  the  field  along  the  whole  front. 

The  men  of  Anderson's  and  Hill's  corps  were  now  pouring 
into  the  Confederate  works,  division  after  division,  battery  after 
battery,  and  when  night  fell,  those  two  grim  adversaries,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
again  confronted  each  other  in  array  of  battle,  while  General 
Grant  had  learned  that  Petersburg,  as  Napoleon  said  of  Valencia, 

*  Grant  and  His  Campaigns,  page  352.    Meade's  report  of  campaign  of  13*34. 


142  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


In  these  four  days  of  assault,  from  Wednesday  to  Saturday 
inclusive,  the  enemy  confess  to  a  loss  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
men* — a  fact  which  attests  with  appalling  eloquence  the  vigor 
of  the  defence. 

Sunday  morning,  June  iQth,  dawned  with  soft  and  dewy  bright 
ness,  and  the  Sabbath's  stillness  remained  unbroken,  save  when 
at  distant  intervals  a  single  gun  boomed  out  from  the  great 
salients,  or  the  rattling  fire  of  the  pickets  on  the  river  front  fretted 
for  a  few  brief  moments  the  peaceful  air.  But  it  was  no  day  of 
rest  to  the  contending  armies,  for  the  Confederates  were  actively 
strengthening  their  crude  position,  while  the  enemy  plied  pick, 
and  spade,  and  axe  with  such  silent  vigor,  that,  this  comparative 
quiet  reigning  for  two  successive  days,  there  arose,  as  if  by  touch 
of  a  magician's  wand,  a  vast  cordon  of  redoubts  of  powerful  pro 
file,  connected  by  heavy  infantry  parapets,  stretching  from  the 
Appomattox  to  the  extreme  Federal  left — a  line  of  prodigious 
strength,  and  constructed  with  amazing  skill,  destined  long  to 
remain,  to  the  military  student  at  least,  an  enduring  monument 
of  the  ability  of  the  engineers  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

This  done,  General  Grant  was  now  free  to  begin  that  series  of 
attempts  against  Lee's  communications,  which,  despite  repeated 
disaster,  he  continued,  with  slight  intermission,  to  the  end. 

EXTENSION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  LEFT. 

On  Tuesday,  the  2ist,  the  Second  and  Sixth  corps  were  put  in 
motion  to  extend  the  Federal  left — the  Second,  to  take  position 
west  of  the  Jerusalem  plank-road,  its  right  connecting  with  War 
ren's  left,  which  rested  at  that  point;  the  Sixth,  to  extend  to  the 
left  of  the  Second,  and,  if  possible,  to  effect  a  lodgment  on  the 
Weldon  railroad.  On  the  same  day,  Wilson,  with  about  six 
thousand  sabres, f  consisting  of  his  own  and  Kautz's  divisions, 
was  dispatched  to  destroy  the  Weldon  road  farther  to  the  south, 
and  thence,  by  a  wide  sweep  to  the  west,  to  cut  the  Southside  and 
Danville  roads.  The  Second  corps,  now  commanded  by  Birney — 
for  Hancock's  wound,  received  at  Gettysburg,  had  broken  out 
afresh — succeeded,  after  some  sharp  skirmishing  with  the  Con 
federate  cavalry,  in  taking  position  to  the  left  of  Warren,  and  the 
Sixth  corps,  moving  up  the  same  evening,  established  itself  on  a 

*  Swinton,  A.  P.,  page  514. 

t  Coppee  (Grant  and  His  Campaign",  page  353)  says  "eight  thousand  men  in  all,"  but  this 
seems,  on  investigation,  an  over-estimate. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M'CABE.  143 

line  in  rear  and  parallel  to  the  Second,  its  left  slightly  overlapp 
ing  that  corps.  But  the  next  morning  the  Confederate  horse 
showed  such  a  bold  front,  though  'twas  but  a  scratch  force  with 
cattle  like  "walking  trestles,"  that  General  Grant  determined  to 
suspend  the  movements  to  the  railroad,  and  Birney  was  ordered 
"to  swing  forward  the  left  of  the  Second  corps  so  as  to  envelop 
the  right  Hank  of  the  Confederates.* 

ACTION    OK    TWENTY-SECOND    OF    JUNE. 

This  change  of  orders  led  to  delay,  which  Lee,  consummate 
master  of  that  art  which  teaches  that  "offensive  movements  are 
the  foundation  of  a  good  defence,"  was  swift  to  improve.  Riding 
to  his  right,  he  sent  for  Mahone,  who,  as  civil  engineer,  had  sur 
veyed  the  country  and  knew  every  inch  of  the  ground  hidden 
by  the  tangled  chaparral.  Few  words  were  wasted.  Mahone 
proposed  that  he  be  allowed  to  take  three  brigades  of  Anderson's 
old  division  and  strike  the  enemy  in  flank.  Lee  assented.  Pass 
ing  his  men  quickly  along  the  ravine,  which  screened  them  from 
the  enemy's  pickets,  Mahone  gained  a  point  which  he  rightly 
conjectured  to  be  beyond  the  hostile  flank.  Here,  in  an  open 
field  fronting  the  "Johnson  house,"  he  formed  line  of  battle — the 
brigades  of  Saunders  and  Wright  in  front,  his  own  brigade,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Weisiger,  supporting  the  right,  while  Mcln- 
tosh  of  the  artillery  was  directed  to  move  with  two  guns  in  the 
opening  on  the  left.  Birney,  meanwhile,  had  nearly  completed 
his  movement,  which  was  executed  without  reference  to  the  Sixth 
corps,  and  left  an  ever-widening  gap  between  the  two  lines,  as, 
"pivoting  on  his  right  division,  under  Gibbon,  he  swung  forward 
his  left."t  Yet  Mott's  division  had  come  into  position  on  Gib 
bon's  left,  and  had  commenced  entrenching,  and  Barlow  was 
moving  up  to  the  left  of  Mott,  when  suddenly  and  swiftly,  with 
a  wild  yell  which  rang  out  shrill  and  fierce  through  the  gloomy 
pines,  Mahone's  men  burst  upon  the  flank — a  pealing  volley, 
which  roared  along  the  whole  front — a  stream  of  wasting  fire, 
under  which  the  adverse  left  fell  as  one  man — and  the  bronzed 
veterans  swept  forward,  shriveling  up  Barlow's  division  as  light 
ning  shrivels  the  dead  leaves  of  autumn;  then,  cleaving  a  fiery 
path  diagonally  across  the  enemy's  front,  spreading  dismay  and 
destruction,  rolled  up  Mott's  division  in  its  turn,  and  without 
check,  the  woods  still  reverberatincf  with  their  fierce  clamor, 

o 

stormed  and  carried  Gibbon's  entrenchments  and  seized  his 
guns. 

When  night  came  down  the  victors  returned  to  the  main  lines, 

*  Swiuton,  A.  P.,  page  51-2.  t  Ib. 


144  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

guarding  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-two  prisoners,  and  bear 
ing  as  trophies  a  vast  quantity  of  small  arms,  four  light  guns,, 
and  eight  standards.* 

In  this  brilliant  feat  of  arms,  co-operation,  it  would  appear,  was 
expected  from  another  quarter,  but  though,  as  Touchstone  says, 
"  there  is  much  virtue  in  if,"  I  am  here  to  relate  the  actual  events 
of  the  defence,  rather  than  to  speculate  upon  what  might  have 
been. 

FIRST    BATTLE    OF    REAMS'  STATION. 

On  the  same  day,  Wilson  with  his  cavalry  struck  the  Weldon 
railroad  at  Reams'  station,  destroyed  the  track  for  several  miles, 
and  then  pushed  westward  toward  the  Southside  road.  Here, 
while  tearing  up  the  rails  at  "  Blacks-and- Whites,"  having  dis 
patched  Kautz,  meanwhile,  to  destroy  the  junction  of  the  South- 
side  and  Danville  roads  at  Burkeville,  he  was  sharply  assailed  by 
W.  H.  F.  Lee,  who  had  followed  him  with  his  division  of  cavalry, 
and  who  now  wrested  from  him  the  road  upon  which  the  raiders 
were  moving.  Again  and  again  did  Wilson  seek  to  wrest  it 
back,  but  Lee  could  not  be  dislodged.  The  combat  was  renewed 
next  day,  lasting  from  midday  till  dark,  but  at  daylight  of  the 
24th  the  Federal  cavalry  withdrew,  leaving  their  killed  and 
wounded  on  the  field. f  Wilson  reached  Meherrin  station  on  the 
Danville  road  the  same  day,  and  Kautz  having  rejoined  him,  the 
two  columns  pushed  on  rapidly  to  Staunton  River  bridge.  But 
the  local  militia,  entrenched  at  that  point,  behaved  with  great 
firmness,  and  W.  H.  F.  Lee  boldly  attacking,  again  drove  the  Fed 
erals  before  him  until  dark.J  Wilson  now  turned  to  regain  the 
lines  in  front  of  Petersburg,  but  his  officers  and  men  were  ma 
rauding  in  a  fashion  which  no  prudent  officer,  on  such  service  as 
his,  should  ever  have  allowed,  while  W.  H.  F.  Lee  hung  upon 
his  rear  with  an  exasperating  tenacity  which  brought  delay  and 
redoubled  his  difficulties.  At  every  step,  indeed,  the  peril  thick 
ened,  for  Hampton,  who  had  crossed  the  James,  now  came  to  W. 
H.  F.  Lee's  help  with  a  small  body  of  horse,  and  attacking  the 
enemy  on  Tuesday  evening  (June  28th),  at  Sappony  church, 
drove  him  until  dark,  harassed  him  the  livelong  night,  turned 
his  left  in  the  morning,  and  sent  him  helter-skelter  before  his 
horsemen. § 

Wilson,   fairly  bewildered,   sought  to   reach    Reams'   station, 

*  Lee's  official  dispatch,  June  22<1,  1864.  Swinton  (page  512)  says  li  two  thousand  five  hun 
dred  prisoners  and  many  standards."  It  appears  on  close  investigation  that  General  Lee,, 
thn  ujrh  caution,  very  frequently  understates,  in  first  dispatches,  the  losses  of  the  enemy. 

t  Lee's  official  dispatch,  June  25th,  1864. 

t  Lee's  official  dispatch,  June  26th,  1864. 

§  Lee's  official  dispatch,  June  29th,  1364,  8  P.  M. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN     W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  145 

which  he  believed  to  be  still  in  possession  of  the  Federals — a 
determination  destined  to  be  attended  with  irreparable  disaster  to 
him,  for  General  Lee  had  dispatched  thither  two  brigades  of 
infantry  (Finnegan's  and  Saunders')  under  Mahone,  and  two  light 
batteries  (Brancler's  and  "the  Parcel!"),  under  Pegram,  followed 
by  Fitz.  Lee,  who  had  just  roughly  handled  Gregg  at  Nance's 
shop,  and  who  now  came  down  at  a  sharp  trot  to  take  part  in 
the  tumult.  Wilson,  reaching  his  objective,  descried  ominous 
clouds  of  dust  rising  on  the  roads  by  which  he  had  hoped  to  win 
safety,  but  offering,  in  desperation,  a  seemingly  bold  front  pre 
pared  for  battle. 

Informed  by  a  negro,  whose  knowledge  of  the  country  notably 
expanded  at  sight  of  a  six-shooter,  that  there  was  a  "blind-road" 
leading  in  rear  of  Wilson's  left,  Fitz.  Lee  at  once  pushed  forward 
with  his  dusky  guide,  and  having  assured  himself  by  personal 
rcconnoissance  of  the  truth  of  the  information,  quickly  made  his 
dispositions.  Lomax's  horsemen,  dismounted,  were  formed 
across  this  road,  with  Wickham's  mounted  brigade  in  reserve, 

o 

the  latter  being  instructed  to  charge  so  soon  as  Lomax  had 
shaken  the  enemy.  In  a  twinkling,  as  it  seemed,  the  rattling  fire 
of  the  carbines  told  that  Lomax  was  hotly  engaged,  and  on  the 
instant  the  movement  in  front  began — the  infantry,  under  Mahone, 
advancing  swiftly  across  the  open  field,  pouring  in  a  biting  volley, 
Pegram  firing  rapidly  for  a  few  moments,  then  limbering  up  and 
going  forward  at  a  gallop  to  come  into  battery  on  a  line  with 
the  infantry,  while  Fitz.  Lee,  the  Federals  rapidly  giving  ground 
before  his  dismounted  troopers,  called  up  his  mounted  squadrons 
and  went  in  with  his  rough  stroke  at  a  thundering  pace  on  the 
enemy's  left  and  rear.* 

Yor  a  brief  space  the  confused  combat,  ever  receding,  went 
on — fierce  shouts  of  triumph  mingling  with  the  dismal  cries  of 
stricken  men,  ringing  pistol  shots,  the  clattering  fire  of  cavalry 
carbines,  the  dull  roar  of  the  inms — then,  on  a  sudden,  the  head- 

*!^> 

long  pace  of  "  Runaway  Down."  The  woods  were  now  all 
ablaze,  for  Wilson  had  fired  his  trains,  and  the  infantry  and 
artillery,  pressing  forward  through  the  stifling  heat  and  smoke, 
were  greeted  by  a  sight  not  soon  to  be  forgotten — a  score  or 
two  of  Federal  troopers,  in  gayly-trimmed  jackets,  lying  dead 
upon  their  faces  in  the  dusty  road — pistols,  carbines,  sabres, 
scattered  over  the  ground  in  wildest  profusion — a  long  line  of 
ambulances  filled  with  wounded  men,  who  gave  vent  to  piteous 
moans — a  confused  mass  of  guns,  caissons,  supply  and  ordnance 
wagons,  dead  horses,  stolen  vehicles  of  all  kinds,  from  the  won- 

*  Fitz.  Lee's  MS.  report.    Lee's  official  dispatch. 


146  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

derful  "one-horse  shay"  to  the  old  family  carriage,  all  of  them 
crammed  with  books,  bacon,  looking-glasses  and  ladies'  wearing 
apparel  of  every  description,  from  garments  of  mysterious  pat 
tern  to  dresses  of  the  finest  stuff — while  cowering  along  the  road 
side  were  nearly  a  thousand  fugitive  negroes,  the  poor  creatures 
almost  pallid  with  fright,  the  pickaninnies  roaring  lustily,  several 
of  the  women  in  the  pangs  of  childbirth.  Nor  was  this  shame 
ful  pillage  on  the  part  of  the  men  to  be  wondered  at,  for  in  the 
headquarter  wagon  of  the  Commanding-General  was  found  much 
plunder — among  other  articles  of  stolen  silver  a  communion  ser 
vice  inscribed  "Saint  Joints  Churchy  Cumberland  Parish,  Lunen- 
bnrg."* 

FITZ.  LEE,   IN    HOT    PURSUIT, 

captured  within  a  few  miles  two  more  light  guns,  and  ordered 
the  Federal  artillerymen  to  turn  them  upon  their  flying  com 
rades.  Whether  through  pride  in  their  well-known  proficiency 
in  this  arm  of  the  service,  or  because  they  were  conscious  of  the 
exclusive,  if  not  gratifying,  attention  of  sundry  lean-faced  Con 
federates  of  determined  aspect,  I  do  not  know,  but  certain  is  it 
that  the  cannoniers  soon  warmed  to  their  work,  and  the  gunners, 
stepping  quickly  aside  to  avoid  the  smoke,  marked  the  success 
ful  shots,  and  discovered  their  satisfaction  by  cries  of  approba 
tion  to  their  men.f 

Thus  Wilson,  who  but  eight  days  before  had  crossed  this  road 
in  all  the  pomp  of  war,  with  gaily-flaunting  pennons  and  bur 
nished  trappings  flashing  in  the  sun,  while  the  earth  trembled 
beneath  the  thunder  of  his  trampling  squadrons,  now  slunk 
across  the  Nottoway  ("horses  and  men  in  a  pitiable  condition," 
says  the  Union  historian),  having  abandoned  to  the  Confederates 
his  trains,  a  great  quantity  of  valuable  ordnance  stores  and  small 
arms,  the  captured  negroes,  one  thousand  prisoners,  besides  his 
killed  and  wounded,  and  thirteen  pieces  of  artillery. J 

Yet  General  Grant,  to  use  his  own  phrase,  felt  "compensated," 
and  the  Confederates,  forbearing  to  inquire  too  curiously  into 
his  reasons,  were  not  dissatisfied,  for  the  damage  to  the  roads 
was  soon  repaired, 

*  A  list  of  Mic  stolen  silver  may  he  found  in  the  Richmond  Examiner,  July  tth,  1864.  In  the 
same  paper  (June  27th)  may  be  seen  an  official  list,  sent  by  General  Lomax,  of  the  silver 
found  in  Duster's  headquarter  wagon  cantutvd  at  Trevvlian's.  The  silver  was  sent  to  W. 
H.  McFarlaud,  Esq.,  of  Richmond,  to  be  identified  and  reclaimed  by  its  owners. 

tFitz.  Lee's  MS.  report.    Statement  of  Lieutenant  Charles  Minnigerode,  A.  D.  C. 

t  Lee's  official  dispatch,  July  1st,  Istu. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CAIJE.  147 


AND    THE    CAMP    WITS    HAD    GAINED    ANOTHER    JOKE 

the  latter  openly  alleging  that  Wilson  had  given  a  striking  ex 
ample  of  what  is  known  in  strategy  as  moving  on  parallel  lines, 
for  that,  after  eagerly  tearing  up  the  road,  he  had  been  no  less 
eager  in  tearing  doi^n  the  road. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  at  length,  comrades,  on  these  two  attempts 
of  General  Grant  to  extend  his  left  and  cut  Lee's  communica 
tions,  because  they  were  the  first  of  a  series  of  like  enterprises, 
and  illustrated  fairly  the  repeated  disaster  which  befell  him  in  his 
efforts  to  reach  the  Confederate  arteries  of  supply. 

Having  made  still  another  attempt  on  the  23d  to  extend  the 
Sixth  corps  to  the  Weldon  railroad,  in  which  he  suffered  a  loss 
of  above  five  hundred  prisoners,  General  Grant  now  sharply  "re 
fused"  his  left  on  the  Jerusalem  plank-road,  yet  abated  no  whit 
the  marvelous  energy  which  lie  had  displayed  since  his  partial 
investment  of  the  town.  Karly  was  at  this  time  menacing  Wash 
ington,  uncovered  by  Hunter's  extraordinary  line  of  retreat,  and 
thither,  in  obedience  to  urgent  orders,  Grant  dispatched  the  Sixth 
corps.  Hut,  at  the  same  time,  he  directed  his  engineers  to  ex 
amine  the  whole  front  south  of  the  James  with  a  view  to  direct 
assault,  and  pushed  forward  vigorously  to  completion  his  works, 
which  when  heavily  armed  with  artillery,  would  be  capable  of  as 
sured  defence  by  a  fraction  of  his  preponderating  force,  leaving  the 
bulk  of  his  army  available  for  active  operations  on  the  adverse 
flanks,  or,  should  occasion  offer,  lor  such  assault  as  he  contem 
plated.  The  latter  stroke  suited  best  the  temper  of  the  man,  and 
the  engineers  reporting,  after  careful  reconnoissance,  the  Bermuda 
Hundred  front  impracticable,  but  that  held  by  Hurnside's  corps 
as  favoring,  under  certain  conditions,  such  enterprise,  he  deter 
mined  to  assault  from  that  quarter.* 

THE    CRATER    FIGHT. 

Burnside  held  an  advanced  position,  carried  in  the  assaults  of 
the  i/th  and  i8th  of  June  by  his  own  troops  and  Griffin's  divi 
sion  of  Warren's  corps,  and  had  succeeded  in  constructing  a 
heavy  line  of  rifle  pits  scarcely  more  than  one  hundred  yards 
distant  from  what  was  then  known  as  the  Elliott  Salient. t  Im 
mediately  in  rear  of  this  advanced  line  the  ground  dipped  sud 
denly,  and  broadening  out  into  a  meadow  of  considerable  ex- 

*  Grant's  letter  to  Meade. — Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (18(55),  volume  I,  page  42. 
t  Burnside's  report,  August  13th,  1804.— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (is<;r»),  volume 
I,  page  151. 


148  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

tent,  afforded  an  admirable  position  for  massing  a  large  body  of 
troops,  while  working  parties  would  be  effectually  screened  from 
the  observation  of  the  Confederates  holding  the  crest  beyond.* 
Now,  it  happened  that  the  Second  division  of  the  Ninth  corps 
guarded  this  portion  of  the  Federal  front,  and  as  early  as  the 
24-thf  of  June,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  Pleasants,  command 
ing  the  First  brigade  of  that  division,  a  man  of  resolute  energy 
and  an  accomplished  mining  engineer,  proposed  to  his  division 
commander  that  he  be  allowed  to  run  a  gallery  from  this  hollow, 

AND    BLOW    UP    THE    HOSTILE    SALIENT. 

Submitted  to  Burnside,  the  venture  was  approved,  and  at  12 
o'clock  next  day  Pleasants  began  work,  selecting  for  the  service 
his  own  regiment,  the  Forty-eighth  Pennsylvania,  most  of  whom 
were  miners  from  the  Schuylkill  region.  But  though  Burnside 
approved,  the  Commanding-General  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
and  the  military  engineers  regarded  the  scheme  from  the  first 
with  ill-concealed  derision.  Meade  and  his  Chief  of  Engineers, 
Duane,  declared  that  it  was  "all  clap  trap  and  nonsense" — that 
the  Confederates  were  certain  to  discover  the  enterprise — that 
working  parties  would  be  smothered  for  lack  of  air  or  crushed 
by  the  falling  earth — finally,  as  an  unanswerable  argument,  that 
a  mine  of  such  length  had  never  been  excavated  in  military  ope 
rations.  "  I  found  it  impossible  to  get  assistance  from  anybody," 
says  Pleasants,  with  an  indignation  almost  pathetic;  "I  had  to 
do  all  the  work  myself."  Day  after  day,  night  after  night,  toiling 
laboriously,  he  came  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth  only  to  find 
himself  in  the  cold  shade  of  official  indifference;  yet  the  un 
daunted  spirit  of  the  man  refused  to  yield  his  undertaking. 
Mining  picks  were  denied  him,  but  he  straightened  out  his  army 
picks  and  delved  on;  he  could  get  no  lumber  for  supports  to  his 
gallery,  but  he  tore  down  an  old  bridge  in  rear  of  the  lines  and 
utilized  that;  barrows  were  wanting,  in  which  to  remove  the 
earth  taken  from  the  mine,  but  he  bound  old  cracker-boxes  with 
hoops  of  iron  wrenched  from  the  pork-barrels  and  used  them 
instead;  above  all,  he  needed  an  accurate  instrument  to  make  the 
necessary  triangulations,  and  although  there  was  a  new  one  at 
army  headquarters,  he  was  forced  to  send  to  Washington  for  an 
old-fashioned  theodolite,  and  make  that  answer  his  purpose. 

Despite  all  this  and  more,  he  persevered,  working  on  until 

*  Ib.,  page  211. 

t  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pleasants'  testimony.— Ib.,  page  112. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.   GORDON    M'CABE.  H9 


THE    BUSY    HAMMERING    OF    THE    CONFEDERATES    OVERHEAD, 

engaged  in  laying  platforms  for  their  guns,  assured  him  that  he 
was  well  under  the  doomed  salient. 

By  July  23d  the  mine  was  finished.  It  consisted  of  a  main 
gallery  five  hundred  and  ten  and  eight-tenths  feet  in  length,  with 
lateral  galleries  right  and  left,  measuring  respectively  thirty-eight 
and  thirty-seven  feet,  and  forming  the  segment  of  a  circle  con 
cave  to  the  Confederate  lines.*  From  mysterious  paragraphs  in 
the  Northern  papers  and  from  reports  of  deserters,  though  these 
last  were  vague  and  contradictor}-,  Lee  and  Beauregard  suspected 
that  the  enemy  was  mining  in  front  of  some  one  of  the  three 
salients  on  Beauregard's  front,  and  the  latter  officer  had,  in  con 
sequence,  directed  counter  mines  to  be  sunk  from  all  three,  mean 
while  constructing  gorge  lines  in  rear,  upon  which  the  troops 
might  retire  in  case  of  surprise  or  disaster.  Batteries  of  eight 
and  ten-inch  and  Coehorn  mortars  were  also  established  to  assure 
a  cross  and  front  fire  on  the  threatened  points.  But  the  counter 
mining  on  part  of  the  Confederates  was  after  a  time  discontinued, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  proper  tools,  the  inexperience  of  the  troops 
in  such  work,  and  the  arduous  nature  of  their  service  in  the 
trenches,  t 

The  mine  finished,  official  brows  began  to  relax,  and  Pleasants 
asking  for  twelve  thousand  pounds  of  powder,  got  eight  thou 
sand  and  was  thankful,  together  with  eight  thousand  sand  bags 
to  be  used  in  tamping.  On  the  27  th  July,  the  charge,  consisting 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  kegs  of  powder,  each  containing 
twenty  -five  pounds,  was  placed  in  the  mine,  and  before  sunset  of 
28th  the  tamping  was  finished  and  the  mine  ready  to  be  sprung.  J 

General  Grant,  meanwhile,  in  his  eagerness  for  the  coveted 
prize  so  long  denied  him,  resolved  to  tempt  Fortune  by  a  double 
throw,  and  not  to  stake  his  all  upon  the  venture  of  a  single  cast. 
To  this  end,  he  dispatched,  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  Han 
cock's  corps  and  two  divisions  of  horse  under  Sheridan  to  the 
north  side  of  the  James,  with  instructions  to  the  former  to  move 
up  rapidh*  next  day  to  Chaffin's  and  prevent  reinforcements 
crossing  from  the  south,  while  Sheridan,  making  a  wide  sweep  to 
the  right,  was  to  attempt  from  the  north  a  surprise  of  the  thinly- 
garrisoned  fortifications  of  Richmond.  Meade  was  to  spring  the 
mine  and  assault  from  Burnside's  front  on  the  same  day,  General 
Grant  stating  in  the  telegraphic  order,  with 


*  All  of  the  foregoing  statements  regarding  construction.  &<_•..  of  the  mine  are  based  on. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Pleasauts'  official  report,  August,  1304. 
1  Beauregard's  MS.  report  of  mine  explosion 
t  Pleasants'  official  report. 


I5O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 


HIS    HABITUAL    RELIANCE    ON    SHEER    WEIGHT    OF    NUMBERS, 

"Your  two  remaining  corps,  with  the  Eighteenth,  make  you 
relatively  stronger  against  the  enemy  at  Petersburg  than  we  have 
been  since  the  first  day."*  But  the  cautious  Meade  replied  that 
he  could  not  advise  an  assault  in  the  absence  of  the  Second 
corps, f  while  the  rough  treatment  experienced  by  Sheridan  indi 
cated  that  the  Confederate  capital  was  secure  against  surprise. 

But  although  the  movement  north  of  the  James  was  not,  as 
commonly  represented,  a  skillful  feint  which  deceived  Lee,  but  a 
real  attempt  to  surprise  Richmond,;!;  which  he  thwarted  by  con 
centrating  heavily  on  his  left,  yet  to  parry  the  stroke  the  Con 
federate  commander  had  been  compelled  so  to  denude  the  Peters 
burg  front  that  there  was  left  for  its  defence  but  four  brigades  of 
Bushrod  Johnson's  division  and  the  divisions  of  Hoke  and  Ma- 
hone,  which  together  with  the  artillery  made  up  a  force  of  little 
over  thirteen  thousand  effective  men.§ 

The  conjuncture  was  still  bright  with  success  to  the  Federals, 
and  it  being  now  decided  to  spring  the  mine  before  daylight  of 
the  3Oth,  Hancock's  movement  was  treated  as  a  feint,  and  that 
officer  was  directed  on  the  night  of  the  2pth  to  return  with  all 
secresy  and  dispatch  to  take  part  in  the  assault,  while  Sheridan 
was  to  pass  in  rear  of  the  army,  and  with  whole  cavalry  corps 
operate  towards  Petersburg  from  the  south  and  west.  || 

On  the  evening  of  the  29th, 

MEADE    ISSUED    HTS    ORDERS    OF    BATTLE. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dusk,  Burnside  was  to  mass  his  troops  in 
front  of  the  point  to  be  attacked,  and  form  them  in  columns  of 
assault,  taking  care  to  remove  the  abatis,  so  that  the  troops  could 
debouche  rapidly,  and  to  have  his  pioneers  equipped  for  opening 
passages  for  the  artillery.  He  was  to  spring  the  mine  at  3.30 
A.  M.,  and,  moving  rapidly  through  the  breach,  seize  the  crest  of 
Cemetery  Hill,  a  ridge  four  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  the  Con 
federate  lines. 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (18<>5),  volume  I,  page  45. 

t  "I  canuof  advise  an  assault  with  the  Second  corps  absent.  *  *  *  It  is  not  Mie  numbers 
of  the  enemy,  which  oppose  our  taking  Petersburg;  it  is  their  artillery  and  their  works, 
which  can  b-.-  held  by  reduced  numbers  against  direct  assault." — Meade's  telegram  to  Grant, 
July  26th,  18(54. 

t  General  Grant's  testimony,  "  failing  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  to  surprise  the  ennmy 
as  we  expected  or  hoped  to  do."— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1805),  volume  I,  page 
169. 

{  This  estimate  is  based  on  the  morning  report  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  June 
3(ith,  ls<'>4.  It  is,  perhaps,  excessive  by  a  few  hundreds.  General  Grant's  information  as  to 
the  Confederate  force  at  Petersburg  was  entirely  accurate.— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War  (1865),  volume  I,  page  170. 

11  Swinton,  A.  P.,  page  52). 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    MCABE.  151 

Ord  was  to  mass  the  Eighteenth  corps  in  rear  of  the  Ninth, 
immediately  follow  Burnside  and  support  him  on  the  right. 

Warren  was  to  reduce  the  number  of  men  holding  his  front  to 
the  minimum,  concentrate  heavily  on  the  right  of  his  corps,  and 
support  Burnside  on  the  left.  Hancock  was  to  mass  the  Second 
corps  in  rear  of  the  trenches,  at  that  time  held  by  Ord,  and  be 
prepared  to  support  the  assault  as  events  might  dictate.* 

Engineer  officers  were  detailed  to  accompany  each  corps,  and 
the  Chief  Engineer  was  directed  to  park  his  pontoon  train  at  a 
convenient  point,  ready  to  move  at  a  moment's  warning,  for 
Meacle,  having  assured  himself  that  the  Confederates  had  no 
second  line  on  Cemetery  Hill,  as  he  had  formerly  supposed  and 
as  Duane  had  positively  reported,!  was  now  sanguine  of  success, 
and  made  these  preparations  to  meet  the  contingency  of  the 
meagre  Confederate  force  retiring  beyond  the  Appomattox  and 
burning  the  bridges;  in  which  event,  he  proposed  to  push  imme 
diately  across  that  river  and  Swift  creek  and  open  up  communi 
cation  with  Butler  at  Bermuda  Hundred  before  Eee  could  send 
any  reinforcements  from  his  five  divisions  north  of  the  James. J 

To  cover  the  assault,  the  Chief  of  Artillery  was  to  concentrate 
a  heavy  fire  on  the  Confederate  batteries  commanding  the 
salient  and  its  approaches,  and  to  this  end  eighty-one  heavy 
guns  and  mortars  and  over  eight}-  light  guns  were  placed  in  bat 
tery  on  that  immediate  front. $  Burnside  had  urged  that 

EERRERo's    NEdRO    DIVISION    SHOULD    LEAD    THE    ATTACK, 

declaring  that  it  was  superior  in  morale  to  the  white  divisions  of 
his  corps,  but  in  this  he  was  overruled  by  Mcade  and  Grant.  || 
He  therefore  permitted  the  commanders  of  the  white  divisions 
to  "draw  straws"  as  to  who  should  claim  the  perilous  honor, 
and,  Fortune  favoring  the  Confederates,  the  exacting  duty  fell  to 
General  Ledlie,  an  officer  unfitted  by  nature  to  conduct  any 
enterprise  requiring  skill  or  courage. ^f 

This  settled,  Burnside,  in  his  turn,  issued  his  orders  of  assault.** 
Ledlie  was  to  push  through  the  breach  straight  to  Cemetery 
Hill. 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1S65),  volume  I,  page  2*21. 

t  It).,  pages  43,  44. 

%  Meade's  testimony. — Th.,  page  75. 

§  statement  of  General  Hunt.  Chief  of  Artillery,  Army  of  Potomac. — Report  on  the  Con 
duct  of  tlie  War  (isi'.ft),  volume  I,  page  1S4;  of  Colonel  H.  L.  Abbot. — Ib.,  page  19S. 

11  For  Burnside's  proposal  regarding  the  negro  troops. — Ib.,  pages  17,  IS;  overruled  by 
Meade  and  Grant. — Ib.,  page  145;  cf.  specially.— Ib.  page  223. 

r  General  Grant  says:  "The  lot  happvn^d  to  fall  on  what  I  thought  was  the  worst  com 
mander  in  his  corps."— II).,  page  110.  See  further  on. 

**  Ib.,  page  243. 


152  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Wilcox  was  to  follow,  and,  after  passing  the  breach,  deploy  on 
the  left  of  the  leading  division  and  seize  the  line  of  the  Jerusa 
lem  plank-road. 

Potter  was  to  pass  to  the  right  of  Ledlie  and  protect  his  flank, 
while  Fen-crcfs  negro  division,  should  Ledlie  effect  a  lodgment  on 
Cemetery  Hill,  was  to  push  beyond  that  point  and  immediately 
assault  the  tow)i. 

Long  before  dawn  of  the  3Oth,  the  troops  were  in  position,  and 
.at  half-past  three,  punctually  to  the  minute,  the  mine  was  fired. 

THEN    THE    NEWS    PASSED    SWIFTLY    DOWN    THE    LINES, 

and  the  dark  columns,  standing  in  serried  masses,  awaited  in 
dread  suspense  the  signal — knowing  that  death  awaited  many 
on  yonder  crest,  yet  not  animated  by  the  stern  joy  of  coming 
fight,  nor  yet  resolved  that  though  death  stalked  forth  with 
horrid  mien  from  the  dreadful  breach,  it  should  be  but  to  greet 
Victory. 

Minute  followed  minute  of  anxious  waiting — a  trial  to  even 
the  most  determined  veterans — and  now 

THE    EAST    WAS    STREAKED    WITH    GRAY, 

yet  the  tender  beauty  of  the  dim  tranquility  remained  unvexed 
of  any  sound  of  war,  save  one  might  hear  a  low  hum  amid  the 
darkling  swarm  as  grew  the  wonder  at  delay.  Nor  was  the 
cause  of  hindrance  easy  to  ascertain;  for  should  it  prove  that 
the  fuse  was  still  alight,  burning  but  slowly,  to  enter  the  mine 
was  certain  death.  Thus  time  dragged  slowly  on,  telegram  upon 
telegram  of  inquiry  meanwhile  pouring  in  from  Meade,  who, 
unmindful  of  the  dictum  of  Napoleon,  that  "in  assaults  a  general 
should  be  with  his  troops,"  had  fixed  his  headquarters  full  a  mile 
away.*  But  these  were  all  unheeded,  for  Burnside  knew  not 
what  to  answer. 

Then  it  was  that  two  brave  men,  whose  names  should  be  men 
tioned  with  respect  wherever  courage  is  honored,  Lieutenant 
Jacob  Douty  and  Sergeant  Henry  Rees,  both  of  the  Forty-eighth 
Pennsylvania,  volunteered  for  the  perilous  service  and  entered 
the  mine.  Crawling  on  their  hands  and  knees,  groping  in  utter 
darkness,  they  found  that  the  fuse  had  gone  out  about  fifty  feet 
from  the  mouth  of  the  main  gallery,  relighted  it  and  retired. 

"In  eleven  minutes  now  the  mine  will  explode,"  Pleasants  re 
ports  to  Burnside  at  thirty-three  minutes  past  four,  and  a  small 

*  Meade's  own  statement.— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1865),  volume  I,  page  72.    . 
Cf.  also  General  Warren's  statement.— Ib.,  page  169. 


ADDRESS    OF   CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  153 

group  of  officers  of  the  Forty-eighth,  standing  upon  the  slope 
of  the  main  parapets,  anxiously  await  the  result. 

"  It  lacks  a  minute  yet,"  says   Pleasants,  looking  at  his  watch. 

"  Not  a  second,"  cried  Douty,* 

"FOR    THERE    SHE    GOES." 

A  slight  tremor  of  the  earth  for  a  second,  then  the  rocking  as 
of  an  earthquake,  and  with  a  tremendous  burst  which  rent  the 
sleeping  hills  beyond,  a  vast  column  of  earth  and  smoke  shoots 
upward  to  a  great  height,  its  dark  sides  flashing  out  sparks  of 
fire,  hangs  poised  for  a  moment  in  mid-air,  and  then  hurtling 
downward  with  a  roaring  sound  showers  of  stones,  broken  tim 
bers,  and  blackened  human  limbs,  subsides — the  gloomy  pall  of 
darkening  smoke  flushing  to  an  angry  crimson  as  it  floats  away 
to  meet  the  morning  sun. 

PLEASAXTS    HAS    DONE    HIS    WORK    WITH    TERRIBLE    COMPLETENESS, 

for  now  the  site  of  the  Elliott  Salient  is  marked  by  a  horrid 
chasm,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  in  length,  ninety-seven 
feet  in  breadth  and  thirty  feet  deep,  and  its  brave  garrison,  all 
asleep,  save  the  guards,  when  thus  surprised  by  sudden  death, 
lie  buried  beneath  the  jagged  blocks  of  blackened  clay — in  all, 
two  hundred  and  fifty-six  officers  and  men  of  the  Eighteenth  and 
Twenty-second  South  Carolina — two  officers  and  twenty  men  of 
Pegram's  Petersburg  battery. t 

The  dread  upheaval  has  rent  in  twain  Elliott's  brigade,  and 
the  men  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  huge  abyss  recoil  in  terror 
and  dismay.  Nor  shall  we  censure  them,  for  so  terrible  was  the 
explosion  that  even  the  assaulting  column  shrank  back  aghast, 
and  nearly  ten  minutes  elapsed  ere  it  could  be  reformed. J 

NOW    A    STORM    OF    FIRE 

bursts  in  red  fury  from  the  Eederal  front,  and  in  an  instant  all 
the  valley  between  the  hostile  lines  lies  shrouded  in  billowing 
smoke.  Then  Marshall,  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
stormers,  sword  in  hand,  bids  his  men  to  follow. 

But  there  comes  no  response  befitting  the  stern  grandeur  of 
the  scene — no  trampling  charge — no  rolling  drums  of  Austerlitz 
— no  fierce  shouts  of  warlike  joy  as  burst  from  the  men  of  the 

*  Grant  and  His  Campaigns,  page  369. 

t  Beauregard's  MS.  report  of  mine  explosion;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Loring's  statement. 
i  Statement  of  General  O.  15.  Wilcox,  V.  S.  A.— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (IS65), 
volume  I,  page  79;  Burnside's  testimony.— Ib.,  page  147. 

I  I 


154  '     MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

"Light  Division"  when  they  mounted  the  breach  of  Badajos,  or 
from  Frazer's  "  Royals"  as  they  crowned  the  crimson  slopes  of 
Saint  Sebastian. 

No,  none  of  this  is  here.  But  a  straggling  line  of  the  men  of 
the  Second  brigade,  First  division,  uttering  a  mechanical  cheer, 
slowly  mounts  the  crest,  passes  unmolested  across  the  inter 
vening  space,*  and  true  to  the  instinct  fostered  by  long  service 
in  the  trenches,  plunges  into  the  Crater,  courting  the  friendly 
shelter  of  its  crumbling  sides. 

Yonder  lies  Cemetery  Hill  in  plain  view,  naked  of  men,t  and, 
hard  beyond,  the  brave  old  town,  nestling  whitely  in  its  wealth 
of  green. 

Silence  still  reigned  along  the  Confederate  lines,  yet  Ledlie's 
men  did  not  advance,  and  now  the  supporting  brigade  of  the 
same  division  running  forward  over  the  crest,  and  with  an  in 
credible  folly  crowding  in  upon  their  comrades,  already  huddled 
together  in  the  shelving  pit,  all  regimental  and  company  organi 
zation  was  lost,  and  the  men  speedily  passed  from  the  control  of 
their  officers. J 

If  we  except  Elliott,  who  with  the  remnant  of  his  brigade  was 
occupying  the  ravine  to  the  left  and  rear  of  the  Crater,  no  officer 
of  rank  was  present  on  the  Confederate  side  to  assume  imme 
diate  direction  of  affairs,  and  a  considerable  time  elapsed  before 
Beauregard  and  Lee — both  beyond  the  Appomattox — were  in 
formed  by  Colonel  Paul,  of  Beauregard's  staff,  of  the  nature  and 
locality  of  the  disaster. 

But  almost  on  the  moment, 

JOHN    HASKELL,   OF    SOUTH    CAROLINA, 

a  glorious  young  battalion  commander,  whose  name  will  be  for 
ever  associated  with  the  artillery  corps  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  galloped  to  the  front,  followed  by  two  light  batteries, 
and  having  disposed  these  pieces  along  the  Plank  road,  and 
opened  Planner's  light  guns  from  the  Gee  house,  passed  to  his 
left  to  speak  a  word  of  cheery  commendation  to  Lampkin  of  his 
battalion,  who  was  already  annoying  the  swarming  masses  of  the 
enemy  with  his  Virginia  battery  of  eight-inch  mortars.  Passing 
through  the  covered  way,  Haskell  sought  Elliott,  and  pointing 
out  to  him  the  defenceless  position  of  the  guns  on  the  Plank 

*  Grant,  Meade,  Potter,  Duane  and  others  testify  to  this  effect.— Ib.  page.-?  36,  87,  110, 116. 

t  Statement  of  Captain  P.  U.  Farquhar,  United  States  Engineers:  "There  was  not  a  soul 
between  the  Crater  and  that  position,  and  I  believe  that  position  was  the  objective  point  of 
the  assault." — Ib.  page  211 ;  cf.  testimony  of  other  officers. — Ib. 

i  See  testimony  of  General  Grant.— Ib.,  paire  110;  Meade,  page  36;  Pleasants,  page  116. 
As  regards  the  men  passing  from  control  of  their  officers,  see  statement  of  Lieutenant- 
Colanel  Loring.— Ib.,  page  92 ;  General  Hartranf t,  page  190. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M'CABE.  155 

roacl,  urged  him  to  make  such  dispositions  as  would  afford  them 
protection.  Essaying  this,  Elliott  sprang  forward,  followed  by  a 
mere  handful  of  brave  fellows,  but  almost  on  the  instant  fell 
stricken  by  a  grievous  hurt  and  was  borne  from  his  last  field  of 
battle. 

The  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery  was  now  very  severe,  owing 
to  their  superior  weight  of  metal,  and  the  guns  on  the  Plank 
road,  exposed  in  addition  to  the  fire  of  sharpshooters,  were  suf 
fering  such  loss  that  it  was  determined  to  retire  all  but  six  pieces, 
and,  as  the  situation  seemed  rather  hopeless,  to  call  for  volun 
teers  to  man  these.  To  Haskell's  proud  delight,  every  gun 
detachment  volunteered  to  remain. 

Xor  did  the  artillery  to  the  right  and  left  fail  to  bear  them 
selves  with  the  resolution  of  men  conscious  that,  for  the  time, 
the  hope  of  the  army  was  centred  in  their  steadiness,  and  that 

THEIR    (IL'NS    ALONE    BARRED    THE    ROAD    TO    PETERSr,L"R(  I ; 

for,  let  me  repeat,  Cemetery  Mill  was  naked  of  men.  The  offi 
cers  of  one  batten',  indeed,  misbehaved,  but  these  were  promptly 
spurned  aside,  and  the  very  spot  of  their  defection  made  glorious 
by  the  heroic  conduct  of  Hampton  Gibbs,  of  the  artillery,  and 
Sam  Preston,  of  Wise's  brigade,  both  of  whom  fell  desperately 
wounded — while  spurring  hard  from  the  hospital,  with  the  fever 
still  upon  him,  came  Mampden  Chamberlayne,  a  young  artillery 
officer  of  Hill's  corps,  who  so  handled  these  abandoned  guns 
that  from  that  day  the  battery  bore  his  name,  and  he  wore  another 
bar  upon  his  collar.* 

Frank  linger,  who,  like  "Edward  Freer  of  the  Forty-third," 
had  "seen  more  combats  than  he  could  count  years,"  was,  as 
always,  to  the  fore,  working  as  a  simple  cannonier  at  his  heated 
Napoleons,  cheering  and  encouraging  his  men  by  joyful  voice 
and  valiant  example. 

Wright,  of  Halifax,  opened  too  a  withering  fire  from  his  light 
guns  posted  on  a  hill  to  the  left,  nor  could  he  be  silenced  by  the 
enemy's  batteries,  for  his  front  was  covered  by  a  heavy  fringe  of 
pines;"*"  and  now  the  eight-inch  mortars  in  rear  of  Wright,  and 
Eanghorne's  ten-inch  mortars,  from  the  Baxter  road,  took  part 
in  the  dreadful  chorus. 

On  the  Federal  side,  Griffin  of  Potter's  division,  not  waiting 
for  Wilcox,  pushed  forward  his  brigade,  and  gained  ground  to 

*  As  regards  the  execution  of  Chamberlayne's  trims,  see  especially  statement  of  General 
Warren. — Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1865),  volume  I,  page  166;  General  Hunt,  pages 
93,  184;  Uuane,  page  loo ;  and  others.  For  general  efficiency  of  the  artillery  lire  see  Meade's 
report,  August  lt>th,  ls>(34. — Ib.,  page  31 ;  Colonel  Loring's  statement. — Ib.,  page  95;  General 
Potter,  page  177. 

t  Statement  of  General  Potter.— It).,  page  ST.    Cf.  statement  of  other  Federal  officers.— Ib. 


156  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

the  north  of  the  Crater,  and  Bliss'  brigade  of*  the  same  division, 
coming  to  his  support,  still  further  ground  was  gained  in  that 
direction.*  But  his  leading  regiments,  deflected  by  the  hostile 
fire,  bore  to  their  left,  and  mingling  with  Ledlie's  men  swarming 
along  the  sides  of  the  great  pit,  added  to  the  confusion.  Wilcox 
now  threw  forward  a  portion  of  his  division  and  succeeded  in 
occupying  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  works  south 
of  the  Crater,  but  estopped  by  the  fire  of  Chamberlayne's  guns, 
and,  whenever  occasion  offered,  by  the  fire  of  the  infantry,  his 
men  on  the  exposed  flank  gave  ground,  and  pushing  the  right 
regiments  into  the  Crater,  the  confusion  grew  worse  confounded. 
Some  of  the  men,  indeed,  from  fear  of  suffocation,  had  already 
emerged  from  the  pit  and  spread  themselves  to  the  right  and  left, 
but  this  was  a  matter  of  danger  and  difficulty,  for  the  ground  was 
scored  with  covered-ways  and  traverses,  honey-combed  with 
bomb-proofs,  and  swept  by  the  artillery.  Others  of  them  pressed 
forward  and  got  into  the  ditch  of  the  unfinished  gorge  lines, 
while  not  a  few,  creeping  along  the  glacis  of  the  exterior  line, 
made  their  way  over  the  parapet  into  the  main  trench.  In  all 
this,  there  was  much  hand-to-hand  fighting,  for  many  men  be 
longing  to  the  dismembered  brigade  still  found  shelter  behind 
the  traverses  and  bomb-proofs,  and  did  not  easily  yield. f 
Meanwhile,  General  Meade, 

"GROPING  IN  THE  DARK," 

to  use  his  own  phrase, J  sent  telegram  upon  telegram  to  Burnside 
to  know  how  fared  the  day,  but  received  answer  to  none.  At 
fifteen  minutes  to  six,  however,  one  hour  after  Ledlie's  men  had 
occupied  the  breach,  an  orderly  delivered  to  him  a  note  in  pencil, 
written  from  the  Crater  by  Colonel  Loring,  Inspector-General  of 
the  Ninth  corps,  and  addressed  to  General  Burnside.  This  was 
Meade's  first  information  from  the  front  and  was  little  cheering, 
for  Loring  stated  briefly  that  Ledlie's  men  were  in  confusion  and 
would  not  go  forward.  § 

Ord  was  now  directed  to  push  forward  the  Eighteenth  corps, 
and  the  following  dispatch  was  sent  to  Burnside: 

'  Burnside's  official  report,  August  13th,  1864.  Colonel  Bliss,  commanding  First  brigade, 
Second  division,  "remained  behind  with  the  only  regiment  of  his  brigade  which  did  not  go 
forward  according  to  orders."— Opinion  of  the  Court  of  Inquiry— Report  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War  (1865),  volume  I,  page  217. 

t  For  all  statements  in  above  paragraph,  cf.  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1863),  vol 
ume  I,  pages  21,  92,  94,  96,  121,  157,  177,  201. 

t  "I  have  been  groping  in  the  dark  since  the  commencement  of  the  attack."— Meade— Ib., 
page  71. 

5  Ib.,  page  53. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN     W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  I5/ 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 
July  30th,  1864,  6  A.  M. 

Major-General  Burnside — Prisoners  taken  say  that  there  is  no 
line  in  their  rear,  and  that  their  men  were  falling  back  when  ours 
advanced;  that  none  of  their  troops  have  returned  from  the 
James.  Our  chance  is  now.  Push  your  men  forward  at  all 
hazards,  white  and  black,  and  don't  lose  time  in  making  forma 
tions,  but  rush  for  the  crest. 

GEORGE  G.  MEADE, 
J\Iajor-  General  Commanding. 

But  Orel  could  not  advance,  for  the  narrow  debouches  were  still 
choked  up  by  the  men  of  the  Ninth  corps  and  by  the  wounded 
borne  from  the  front,  and  although  Burnside  promptly  trans 
mitted  the  order  to  his  subordinates,  the  troops  in  rear  moved 
with  reluctant  step,  while  no  general  of  division  was  present  with 
those  in  front  to  urge  them  forward.* 

Again  did  Meade  telegraph  to  Burnside:  "  Every  moment  is 
most  precious;  the  enemy  are  undoubtedly  concentrating  to  meet 
you  on  the  crest."  But  not  until  twenty  minutes  past  seven  did 
he  receive  a  reply,  and  then  briefly  to  the  effect  that  Burnside 
"hoped  to  carry  the  crest,  but  it  was  hard  work." 

Then  Meade's  patience  seems  fairly  to  have  broken  down. 
"What  do  you  mean  by  hard  work  to  take  the  crest?"  he  asks, 

"  I  understand  not  a  man  has  advanced  beyond  the  enemy's 
line  which  you  occupied  immediately  after  exploding  the  mine. 
Do  you  mean  to  say  your  officers  and  men  will  not  obey  your 
orders  to  advance?  If  not,  what  is  the  obstacle?  I  wish  to 
know  the  truth,  and  desire  an  immediate  answer. 

"GEORGE  G.  MEADE,  ]\Iajor-Gcncral" 
To  which  Burnside,  in  hot  wrath,  straight-way  replied: 

HEADQUARTERS  XINTH  CORPS. 
7.35  A.  M. 

General  Mcade — Your  dispatch  by  Captain  Jay  received.  The 
main  body  of  General  Potter's  division  is  beyond  the  Crater. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  my  officers  and  men  will  not  obey 
my  orders  to  advance.  I  mean  to  say  that  it  is  very  hard  to 
advance  to  the  crest.  I  have  never  in  any  report  said  anything 

*  See  testimony  of  General  Ord.— Tb.  pages  172, 173;  General  Grant,  page  110;  cf.  also,  Ib., 
pages  197,  210.  For  state  of  debouches,  see  Orel's  official  report,  August  3,  lbt>4. — Ib.,  page  lol. 


158  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

different  from  what  I  conceived  to  be  the  truth.  Were  it  not 
insubordinate,  I  would  say  that  the  latter  remark  of  your  note 
was  unofficerlike  and  ungentlemanly. 

A.  E.  BURNSIDE,  Major-General. 

Griffin,  it  is  true,  in  obedience  to  orders  to  advance  straight  for 
Cemetery  Hill,  had  during  this  time  attempted  several  charges 
from  his  position  north  of  the  Crater,  but  his  men  displayed 
little  spirit,  and,  breaking  speedily  under  the  fire  of  the  artillery 
sought  their  old  shelter  behind  the  traverses  and  covered  ways.* 
The  rest  of  Potter's  division  moved  out  but  slowly,  anal  it  was 
fully  eight  o'clockf — more  than  three  hours  after  the  explosion — 
when  Ferrero's  negro  division,  the  men  beyond  question  inflamed 
with  drink, J  burst  from  the  advanced  lines,  cheering  vehemently,, 
passed  at  a  double-quick  over  the  crest  under  a  heavy  fire,  and 
rushing  with  scarce  a  check  over  the  heads  of  the  white  troops 
in  the  Crater,  spread  to  their  right,  capturing  more  than  two 
hundred  prisoners  and  one  stand  of  colors.  §  At  the  same 
moment,  Turner,  of  the  Tenth  corps,  pushed  forward  a  brigade 
over  the  Ninth  corps  parapets,  seized  the  Confederate  line  still 
further  to  the  north,  and  quickly  disposed  the  remaining  brigades 
of  his  division  to  confirm  his  success.  || 

NOW    WAS    THE    CRISIS    OF    THE    DAY, 

and  fortunate  was  it  for  maiden  and  matron  of  Petersburg,  that 
even  at  this  moment  there  was  filing  into  the  ravine  between 
Cemetery  Hill  and  the  drunken  battalions  of  Ferrero,  a  stern 
array  of  silent  men,  clad  in  faded  gray,  resolved  with  grim  re 
solve  to  avert  from  the  mother  town  a  fate  as  dreadful  as  that 
which  marked  the  three  days'  sack  of  Badajos. 

Lee,  informed  of  the  disaster  at  6.10  A.  M.,T  had  bidden  his 
aid,  Colonel  Charles  Venable,  to  ride  quickly  to  the  right  of  the 
army  and  bring  up  two  brigades  of  Anderson's  old  division,  com 
manded  by  Mahone,  for  time  was  too  precious  to  observe  military 
etiquette  and  send  the  orders  through  Hill.  Shortly  after,  the 

*  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1865),  volume  I,  pages  9G,  228  (Meade's  dispatch,  8  A. 
M.  July  30th). 

t  Ib.,  pages  103,  195,  196. 

%  There  are  many  living  officers  and  men.  myself  among  the  number,  who  will  testify  to 
this. 

§  Ib.,  pages  96, 109. 

I!  General  Turner's  statement.— Ib.,  page  121. 

•y  The  hour  is  taken  from  the  note-book  of  the  staff-officer  who  delivered  the  message  from 
Beauregard  to  Lee,  and  who  noted  the  exact  time  at  the  moment.  This  note-book  was  kindly 
placed  at  rny  disposal. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    \V.    GORDON    M  CAI5E.  159 

General-in-Chief  reached  the  front  in  person,  and  all  men  took 
heart  when  they  descried  the  grave  and  gracious  face,  and  "  Trav 
eler"  stepping  proudly,  as  if  conscious  that  he  bore  upon  his 
back  the  weight  of  a  nation.  Beauregard  was  already  at  the 
Gee  house,  a  commanding  position  five  hundred  yards  in  rear  of 
the  Crater,  and  Hill  had  galloped  to  the  right  to  organize  an 
attacking  column,*  and  had  ordered  down  Pegram.and  even  now 
the  light  batteries  of  Grander  and  Ellett  were  rattling  through 
the  town  at  a  sharp  trot,  with  cannoniers  mounted,  the  sweet, 
serene  face  of  their  boy-colonel  lit  up  with  that  glow  which  to 
his  men  meant  hotly-impending  fight. 

Venable  had  sped  upon  his  mission,  and  found 

MAHONE'S  MEN  ALREADY  STANDING  TO  THEIR  ARMS; 

but  the  Federals,  from  their  loft}'  "look-outs,"  were  busily  inter 
changing  signals,  and  to  uncover  such  a  length  of  front  without 
exciting  observation,  demanded  the  nicest  precaution.  Yet  was 
this  difficult}'  overcome  by  a  simple  device,  for  the  men  being 
ordered  to  drop  back  one  by  one,  as  if  going  for  water,  obeyed 
with  such  intelligence  that  Warren  continued  to  report  to  Aleade 
that  not  a  man  had  left  his  front,  t 

Then  forming  in  the  ravine  in  rear,  the  men  of  the  Virginia 
and  Georgia  brigades  came  pressing  down  the  Valley  with  swift, 
swinging  stride — not  with  the  discontented  bearing  of  soldiers 
whose  discipline  alone  carries  them  to  what  they  feel  to  be  a 
scene  of  fruitless  sacrifice,  but  with  the  glad  alacrity  and  a<rLrres- 

o  J  o  o 

sive  ardor  of  men  impatient  for  battle,  and  who,  from  long  know 
ledge  of  war,  are  conscious  that  Fortune  has  placed  within  their 
grasp  an  opportunity  which,  by  the  magic  touch  of  veteran  steel, 
may  be  transformed  to  "swift-winged  victory." 

Halting  for  a  moment  in  rear  of  the  "  Ragland  house,"  Mahone 
bade  his  men  strip  off  blankets  and  knapsacks  and  prepare  for 
battle. 

Then  riding  quickly  to  the  front,  while  the  troops  marched  in 
single  file  along  the  covered-way,  he  drew  rein  at  Bushrocl  John 
son's  headquarters,  and  reported  in  person  to  Beauregard.  In 
formed  that  Johnson  would  assist  in  the  attack  with  the  outlying 
troops  about  the  Crater,  he  rode  still  further  to  the  front,  dis- 

*  Statement  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  \V.  II.  Palmer,  chief-of-staff  to  General  Hill. 

t  The  device  was.  of  course,  Mahone's.  General  Meade  says  :  Generals  Hancock  and  War 
ren  "sent  me  reports  that  the  enemy's  lines  in  their  front  were  strongly  held,  *  *  *  tJmf 
tJ/e  enemy  Jiad  sent  av-rtu  none  »f  tl,,-ii-  tr<i<>)»<  in  their  front,  and  it  was  impossible  to  do  any 
thing  there."— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  (1363),  volume  I,  page  7.  General  Warren 
appears  to  have  been  hard  to  convince,  for  as  iHte  as  December  20th,  1S04,  he  testifies  that 
he  is  "quite  well  satisfied  that  they  (the  enemy  in  his  immediate  front)  did  not  take  part  in 
the  attack.''— Ib.,  page  82. 


l6o  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

mounted,  and  pushing  along  the  covered-way  from  the  Plank 
road,  came  out  into  the  ravine,  in  which  he  afterwards  formed 
his  men.  Mounting  the  embankment  at  the  head  of  the  covered- 
way,  he  descried  within  one  hundred  and  sixty  yards 

A    FOREST    OF    GLITTERING    BAYONETS, 

and  beyond,  floating  proudly  from  the  captured  works,  eleven 
Union  flags.  Estimating  rapidly  from  the  hostile  colors  the 
probable  force  in  his  front,  he  at  once  dispatched  his  courier  to 
bring  up  the  Alabama  brigade  from  the  right,*  assuming  thereby 
a  grave  responsibility,  yet  was  the  wisdom  of  the  decision  vindi 
cated  by  the  event. 

Scarcely  had  the  order  been  given,  when  the  head  of  the  Vir 
ginia  brigade  began  to  debouch  from  the  covered-way.  Directing 
Colonel  Weisiger,  its  commanding  officer,  to  file  to  the  right  and 
form  line  of  battle,  Mahone  stood  at  the  angle,  speaking  quietly 
and  cheerily  to  the  men.  Silently  and  quickly  they  moved  out, 
and  formed  with  that  precision  dear  to  every  soldier's  eye — the 
Sharpshooters  leading,  followed  by  the  Sixth,  Sixteenth,  Sixty- 
first,  Forty-first  and  Twelfth  Virginiaf — the  men  of  Second 
Manassas  and  Crampton's  Gap! 

But  one  caution  was  given — to  reserve  their  fire  until  they 
reached  the  brink  of  the  ditch ;  but  one  exhortation,  that  they 
were  counted  on  to  do  this  work,  and  do  it  quickly. 

Now  the  leading  regiment  of  the  Georgia  brigade  began  to 
move  out,  when  suddenly  a  brave  Federal  officer,  seizing  the 
colors,  called  on  his  men  to  charge.  Descrying  this  hostile 
movement  on  the  instant,  Weisiger,  a  veteran  of  stern  counte 
nance  which  did  not  belie  the  personal  intrepidity  of  the  man,| 
uttered  to  the  Virginians  the  single  word — 

*  This  was  "Jimmy  Blakemore,"  well  known  in  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  as  one  of 
the  most  gallant  lads  in  the  service.  In  critical  events  Mahone  would  entrust  to  him  the 
most  important  messages,  and  in  no  instance  did  he  fail  him. 

t  The  Virginia  brigade  moved  up  left  in  front,  which  accounts  for  the  order  of  the  regi 
ments.  Before  moving  out  of  the  covered-way,  each  regiment  was  counter-marched  on  its 
own  ground.  Singularly  enough,  the  enwmy  also  moved  forward  left  in  front.— Cf.  Report 
on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  "page  193. 

t  "Captain  Ilinton  came  up  and  reported  that  he  ha  1  rep'>rt"d  to  General  Mahone  as  di 
rected,  who  said  that  I  must  await  orders  from  him  or  Captain  Girardey  (who  was  then  acting 
on  Mahone's  stall').  A  few  moments  lat.er  Girardey  came  up  to  us.  Just  at  that  time  I  saw 
a  Federal  officer  leap  from  the  works  with  a  stand  of  colors  in  his  hand,  and  at  least  lifty  or 
more  men  with  him,  as  I  supposed  purposing  to  charge  us.  I  repeated  my  orders  to  Girardey 
and  told  him  that  if  we  did  not  move  forward  promptly  all  would  be  lost.  He  agreed  with 
me,  and  I  then  requested  him  to  report  to  Mahone  the  circumstances  and  that,  I  had  moved 
forward.  I  then  gave  the  command,  'Attention,'  'Forward.**  The  men  sprang  to  their 
feet  and  moved  forward  at  a  double-quick,  reserving  their  lire,  as  ordered,  until  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  enemy,  when  they  delivered  a  galling  lire  and  then  used  the  bayonet  freely." — MS. 
report  of  Brigadier-Genera]  D.  A.  Weisiger.  statement  of  Captain  D.  A.  Hinton,  A.  D.  C., 
Adjutant  Hugh  Smith  and  others  officers.  General  S  G.  Griffin,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  says :  "  The 
Rebels  made  a  very  desperate  attack  at  this  time."— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  War  (18(55), 
volume  I,  page  1SS. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    \V.    GORDON    M*CABE.  l6l 


FORWARD. 

Then  the  Sharpshooters  and  the  men  of  the  Sixth  on  the  right, 
running  swiftly  forward,  for  theirs  was  the  greater  distance  to 
traverse,  the  whole  line  sprang  along  the  crest,  and  there  burst 
from  more  than  eight  hundred  warlike  voices  that  fierce  yell 
which  no  man  ever  yet  heard  unmoved  on  field  of  battle. 
Storms  of  caseshot  from  the  right  mingled  with  the  tempest  of 
bullets  which  smote  upon  them  from  the  front,  yet  was  there  no 
answering  volley,  for  these  were  veterans,  whose  fiery  enthusiasm 
had  been  wrought  to  a  finer  temper  by  the  stern  code  of  discip 
line,  and  even  in  the  tumult  the  men  did  not  forget  their  orders. 
Still  pressing  forward  with  steady  fury,  while  the  enemy,  appalled 
by  the  inexorable  advance,  gave  ground,  they  reached  the  ditch 
of  the  inner  works — 

THEN    ONE    VOLLEY    CRASHED    FROM    THE     WHOLE    LINE, 

and  the  Sixth  and  Sixteenth,  with  the  Sharpshooters,  clutching 
their  empty  guns  and  redoubling  their  fierce  cries,  leaped  over 
the  retrenched-cavalier,  and  all  down  the  line  the  dreadful  work 
of  the  bayonet  began. 

How  long  it  lasted  none  may  say  with  certainty,  for  in  those 
fierce  moments  no  man  heeded  time,  no  man  asked,  no  man  gave 
quarter;  but  in  an  incredibly  brief  space,  as  seemed  to  those  who 
looked  on,  the  whole  of  the  advanced  line  north  of  the  Crater 
was  retaken,  the  enemy  in  headlong  flight,*  while  the  tattered 
battle-flags  planted  along  the  parapets  from  left  to  right,  told  Lee 
at  the  Gee  house  that  from  this  nettle  danger,  valor  had  plucked 
the  flower,  safety  for  an  army. 

Redoubling  the  sharpshooters  on  his  right,  Mahone  kept  down 
all  fire  from  the  Crater,  the  vast  rim  of  which  frowned  down  upon 
the  lower  line  occupied  by  his  troops. 

And  now  the  scene  within  the  horrid  pit  was  such  as  might  be 
fitly  portrayed  only  by  the  pencil  of  Dante  after  he  had  trod 


*Ib.,  pages  21,  121,  '20S.  General  Ayres,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  says  :  "  I  saw  the  negroes  coming 
hack  to  the  rear  like  a  sand-slide." — Ib.,  page  165.  General  Ferrero,  the  commander  of  the 
negro  division,  who  was  censured  by  the  Court  of  Inquiry  (Ib.,  page  21<>)  for  "being  in  a 
bomb-proof  habitually  "  on  this  day,  also  testifies  emphatically  to  the  disorderly  flight,  but 
scarcely  much  weight  can  be  attached  tu  his  statements  unless  corroborated  by  others.  On 
August  31,  1S64,  excusing  the  behavior  of  his  troops,  he  testifies:  "I  would  add  that  my 
troops  are  raw  troops,  and  never  had  been  drilled  two  weeks  from  the  day  tir-'y  entered  the 
service  till  that  day.'' — Ib.,-page  1S1.  On  December  20th,  1S64.  he  testifies  :  (my  troops)  "were 
in  fine  condition— better  than  any  other  troops  in  the  army  for  that  purpose'.  We  wen*  ex 
pecting  to  make  this  assault,  and  had  drilled  for  u-eek*  and  were  in  good  trim  for  it."— Ib., 
page  loi;.  Perhaps  his  excuse  for  this  discrepancy  of  statement  may  be  that  of  the  notorious 
Trenck  of  the  life  Guards,  who,  when  reproached  for  his  mendacity  about  the  battle  of  Sohr, 
cried  out:  '•  How  could  I  help  mistakes  ?  I  had  nothing  but  my  poor  agitated  memory  to 
trust  to."— Carlyle's  Friedrich,  volume  VI,  page  97. 


1 62  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

"nine-circled  Hell."  From  the  great  mortars  to  the  right  and 
left,  huge  missiles,  describing  graceful  curves,  fell  at  regular  in 
tervals  with  dreadful  accuaracy  and  burst  among  the  helpless 
masses  huddled  together,  and  every  explosion  was  followed  by 
piteous  cries,  and  often-times  the  very  air  seemed  darkened  by 
flying  human  limbs.  Haskell,  too,  had  moved  up  his  Eprouvette 
mortars  among  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  Virginia — so  close,  in 
deed,  that  his  powder-charge  was  but  one  ounce  and  a  half— 
and,  without  intermission,  the  storm  of  fire  beat  upon  the  hapless 
men  imprisoned  within. 

Mahone's  men  watched  with  great  interest  this  easy  method  of 
reaching  troops  behind  cover,  and  then,  with  the  imitative  inge 
nuity  of  soldiers,  gleefully  gathered  up  the  countless  muskets 
with  bayonets  fixed,  which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  enemy, 
and  propelled  them  with  such  nice  skill  that  they  came  down- 
upon  Ledlie's  men  "like  the  rain  of  the  Norman  arrows  at 
Hastings." 

At  half-past  ten,  the  Georgia  brigade  advanced  and  attempted 
to  dislodge  Wilcox's  men,  who  still  held  a  portion  of  the  •  lines 
south  of  the  Crater,  but  so  closely  was  every  inch  of  the  ground 
searched  by  artillery,  so  biting  was  the  fire  of  musketry,  that, 
obliquing  to  their  left,  they  sought  cover  behind  the  cavalier- 
trench  won  by  the  Virginia  brigade — many  officers  and  men  tes 
tifying  by  their  blood  how  gallantly  the  venture  had  been  essayed. 

Half  an  hour  later,  the  Alabamians  under  Saunders  arrived, 
but  further  attack  was  postponed  until  after  I  P.  M.,  in  order  to 
arrange  for  co-operation  from  Colquitt  on  the  right.  Sharply  to 
the  minute  agreed  upon,  the  assaulting  line  moved  forward,  and 
with  such  astonishing  rapidity  did  these  glorious  soldiers  rush 
across  the  intervening  space  that  ere  their  first  wild  cries  sub 
sided,  their  battle-flags  had  crowned  the  works.*  The  Confede 
rate  batteries  were  now  ordered  to  cease  firing,  and  forty  volun 
teers  were  called  for  to  assault  the  Crater,  but  so  many  of  the 
Alabamians  offered  themselves  for  the  service,  that  the  ordinary 
system  of  detail  was  necessary.  Happily,  before  the  assaulting 
party  could  be  formed,  a  white  handkerchief,  made  fast  to  a  ram 
rod,  was  projected  above  the  edge  of  the  Crater,  and,  after  a  brief 
pause,  a  motley  mass  of  prisoners  poured  over  the  side  and  ran 
for  their  lives  to  the  rear. 

*  After  the  recovery  of  the  lines  north  of  the  Crater,  Meacle  determined  to  withdraw  all 
his  troops.  The  order  was  given  at  <).HO  A.  M.,  but  Burn.side  was  authorized  to  use  his  dis 
cretion  as  to  the  exact  hour,  and  it  was  nearly  12  M.  before  the  order  was  sent  into  the  Cra 
ter.  •  Of  course,  no  one  knew  this  on  the  Confederate  side,  and  the  fact  can  in  no  way  detract 
from  the  splendid  conduct  of  the  Alabamlans,  but  it  accounts  in  great  measure  for  the  slight 
resistance  they  encountered.  See  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War  (isr>5),  volume  I,  pages  58, 
157.  General  Hartranft's  statement  is  very  naive  as  to  the  conclusion  he  reached  when  he 
saw  the  Alabamians  rushing  forward  with  their  wild  cries:  "This  assaulting  column  of  the 
enemy  came  up,  and  we  concluded— General  Griffin  and  myself— Ma?  there  was  no  use  in  hold 
ing  it  (the  Crater)  any  longer,  and  so  we  retired." — Ib.,  page  190. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    \V.    GORDON    M'CAIJE.  163 

In  this  grand  assault  on  Lee's  lines,  for  which  Meade  had 
massed  sixty-five  thousand*  troops,  the  enemy  suffered  a  loss  of 
above  five  thousand  men,  including  eleven  hundred  and  one  pris 
oners — among  whom  were  two  brigade  commandersf,  while  vast 
quantities  of  small  arms  and  twenty-one  standards  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  victors. J 

Yet  many  brave  men  perished  on  the  Confederate  side.  El 
liott's  brigade  lost  severely  in  killed  and  prisoners.  The  Virginia 
brigade,  too,  paid  the  price  which  glory  ever  exacts.  The  Sixth 
carried  in  ninety-eight  men  and  lost  eigthy-eight,  one  company — 
"the  dandies,"  of  course — "Old  Company  F"  of  Norfolk,  losing 
every  man  killed  or  wounded. §  Scarely  less  was  the  loss  in 
other  regiments.  The  Sharpshooters  carried  in  eighty  men  and 
lost  sixty-four — among  the  slain  their  commander,  William 
Broadbent,  a  man  of  prodigious  strength  and  activity,  who,  leap 
ing  first  over  the  works,  fell  pierced  by  eleven  bayonet  rounds — a 
simple  captain,  of  whom  we  may  say,  as  was  said  of  Ridge:  "No 
man  died  that  da}-  with  more  glory,  yet  many  died  and  there 
was  much  glory." 

Such  was  the  battle  of  the  Crater,  which  excited  the  liveliest 
satisfaction  throughout  the  army  and  the  country.  Mahone 
was  created  Major-General  from  that  date;  \Yeisiger,  who  was 
wounded,  Brigadier-General;  Captain  Girardcy,  of  Mahonc's  staff, 
also  Brigadier — the  latter  an  extraordinary  but  just  promotion, 
for  he  was  a  young  officer  whose  talents  and  decisive  vigor  quali 
fied  him  to  conduct  enterprises  of  the  highest  moment;  yet  fate 
willed  that  his  career  should  be  brief,  for  within  a  fortnight  he 
fell  in  battle  north  of  the  James,  his  death  dimming  the  joy  of 
victory. 

On  the  Federal  side,  crimination  and  recrimination  followed 
what  General  Grant  styled  "this  miserable  failure."  There  was 
a  Court  of  Inquiry,  and  a  vast  array  of  drsmal  testimony,  which 
disclosed  the  fact  that  of  four  generals  of  division  belonging  to 

*"  General  Burnside's  corps,  of  fifteen  thousand  men,  was  *  *  *  to  rush  through  and 
pet  on  the  crest  beyond.  I  prepared  a  force  of  from  forty  thousand  to  fifty  thousand  men  to 
take  advantage  of  our  success  gained  by  General  Burnside's  corps." — Meade — Ib.,  page  37. 

tOne  of  these  brigade  commanders  was  that  knightly  soldier,  General  Francis  W.  Bartlett, 
whose  death,  since  the  delivery  of  this  address,  has  been  as  sincerely  mourned  in  Virginia 
as  in  Massachusetts. 

t  After  carefully  analyzing  all  the  Federal  reports,  General  Mahone  put  the  loss  of  the 
enemy  at  five  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  ;  Cannon  (Grant's  Campaign  against  Rich 
mond,  page  245)  at  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty ;  General  Meade  (Report  of  August 
16th,  1S04)  puts  loss  at  four  thousand  and  four  hundred  in  A.  P.  and  Eighteenth  corps,  but 
does  not  give  loss  in  Turner's  division,  Tenth  corps. 

§  Company  K,  Sixth  Virginia,  carried  in  sixteen  men  ;  eight  were  killed  outright  and  seven 
wounded.  The  small  number  of  men  carried  into  the  fight  by  the  sixth  is  explained  r>y  the 
fact  that  quite  half  the  regiment  was  on  picket  on  the  old  front  (.on  the  right),  ami  could  not 
be  withdrawn.  The  Forty-first  Virginia  lost  one-fourth  its  number;  the  Sixty-first  inthin-a 
fraction  of  half  its  number.  The  loss  in  the  Sixteenth  was  nearly  as  great  a*  in  the  Sixth  pro 
portionally,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  get  the  exact  figures  in  that  regiment  and  in  the 
Twelfth. 


164  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

the  assaulting  corps,  not  one  Jiad  followed  his  men  into  the  Con 
federate  lines.*'  Nay,  that  the  very  commander  of  the  storming 
division,  finding,  like  honest  Nym,  "the  humor  of  the  breach  too 
hot,"  was  at  the  crisis  of  the  fight  palpitating  in  a  bomb-proof, 
beguiling  a  Michigan  surgeon  into  giving  him  a  drink  of  rum, 
on  the  plea  that  "  he  had  the  malaria,  and  had  been  struck  by  a 
spent  ball"t — legends  of  a  hoary  antiquity,  whereof,  let  us 
humbly  confess,  we  ourselves  have  heard. 

Three  weeks  of  comparative  quiet  followed  along  the  Peters 
burg  front,  yet  during  this  time  many  brave  men  fell  unnoticed 
in  the  trenches,  for  there  was  no  change  in  the  proximity  of  the 
hostile  lines,  and  the  dropping  fire  of  the  pickets  by  day,  and 
fiery  curves  of  mortar-shell  by  night,  told  that  the  portentous 
game  of  war  still  went  on. 

Never  was  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  more  defiant  in  its 
bearing — never  more  confident  in  the  genius  of  its  leader.  De 
serters  pouring  into  our  lines  brought  consistent  reports  of  the 
demoralization  of  the  enemy — gold  rose  to  2.90,  the  highest 
point  it  touched  during  the  war — while  from  the  west  and  certain 
States  in  the  North  the  clamors  for  peace  redoubled,  the  New 
York  Herald  being  loudest  in  demanding  that  an  embassy  be 
sent  to  Richmond,  "  in  order  to  see  if  this  dreadful  war  cannot 
be  ended  in  a  mutually  satisfactory  treaty  of  peace."  J 

"An  army,"  says  the  great  Frederick,  "moves  upon  its  belly," 
and  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  jaunty  bearing  of  Lee's 
men,  as  "shrewdly  out  of  beef"  at  this  time  as  ever  were  the 
English  at  Agincourt,  was  not  due  in  a  measure  to  the  fact  that 
just  then  their  eyes  were  gladdened  by  droves  of  fat  cattle  sent 
them  by  an  old  comrade — Lieutenant-General  Jubal  Early,  who, 
without  the  trifling  formality  of  a  commission  from  Governor 
Curtain,  had  assumed  the  duties  of  Acting  Commissary-General 
of  the  rich  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.  § 

We  have  seen  that  shortly  after  Grant's  arrival  in  front  of 
Petersburg,  there  was  open  to  him  "a  swarm  of  fair  advantages," 
for  his  superb  line  of  formidable  redoubts,  capable  of  assured 

'General  Grant's  statement.— Report  on  the  Conduct  of  War  (1S65),  volume  I,  page  110. 
See  also  finding  of  Court  of  Inquiry— Ib.,  page  216. 

t  The  testimony  of  Surgeon  O.  P.  Chubb,  Twentieth  Michigan  (Ib.,  page  191),  and  of  Sur 
geon  H.  E.  Smith,  Twenty-seventh  Michigan  (Ib.,  page  20(5),  is  cerminly  very  lively  reading. 
Surgeon  Smith  is  unable  to  say  how  of  ten  the  doughty  warriors,  Ledlie  a  ad  Ferrero,  "smiled  " 
at  each  other,  for  •'  I  was  not  in  the  bomb-proof  all  the  while  that  they  were  there.  It  was 
perfectly  safe  in  there,  but  it  might  not  have  been  outside.  1  had  to  go  out  to  look  after  the 
wounded."— Ib.,  page  207. 

i 1  have  collected  a  great  number  of  sush  excerpts  fmm  leading  Northern  and  Western 

Eapers  (18(>4),  as  being  not  without  significance.    Certainly  no  sucti  utterances  would  have 
een  tolerated  in  18(51-62. 

§  Later  (September  16th,  18«4),  Hampton  made  his  brilliant  "cattle  raid,"  in  rear  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  in  which  he  intlirt'-d  considerable  loss  on  the  enemy  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  brought  off  above  three  hundred  prisoners  and  two  thousand  live  hundred  beeves.— 
Lee's  official  dispatch. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    \V.   GORDON    M'CABE.  165 

defence  by  a  fraction  of  his  force,  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
operate  on  either  Confederate  flank  with  the  bulk  of  his  army, 
or,  should  the  conjuncture  favor,  to  assault  in  front. 

But  now,  tenacious  of  purpose  as  was  the  Union  General,  he 
had,  according  to  his  own  explicit  testimony,*  satisfied  himself 
that  an  attack  on  Richmond  from  the  north  side  would  be 
attended  with  frightful  loss  of  life — he  had  just  received  humili 
ating  proof  that  Lee's  front  could  not  be  shaken  by  mining  or 
assault — and  thenceforward  the  campaign  narrowed  itself  to  a 
continuous  effort  to  turn  the  Confederate  right  and  cut  Lee's  com 
munications — a  series  of  rough  strokes  parried  with  infinite  skill, 
although  at  times  the  "Thor-hammer"  beat  down  the  guard  of 
the  slender  rapier,  which  so  often  pierced  the  joints  of  the  giant 
armor. 

By  the  end  of  August,  Grant  was  firmly  established  across 
the  Weldon  road — a  line  of  communication  important,  indeed,  to 
Lee,  but  not  absolutely  necessary.  Yet  was  it  not  yielded  with 
out  much  desperate  fighting,  as  was  witnessed  by  the  sharp 
"affair"  of  August  1 8th,  favorable  to  the  Confederates,  who  were 
commanded  by  General  Harry  Heth;  by  the  brilliant  action  of 
August  iQth,  in  which  the  troops  were  immediately  commanded 
by  Heth  and  Mahone  (the  brunt  of  the  fighting  falling  on  Heth's 
division  and  Pegram's  artillery),  and  in  which  the  enemy  sustained 
a  loss  of  many  standards  and  above  twenty-seven  hundred  pris 
oners ;  by  the  battle  of  August  2ist,  in  which  Mahone  failed  to 
dislodge  the  enemy,  for,  attacking  with  six  small  brigades,  and 
twelve  guns  under  Pegram,  he  encountered,  instead  of  the  weak 
flank  his  scouts  had  led  him  to  expect,  a  heavily-entrenched  front 
manned  by  an  army  corps,  the  approaches  to  which  were  swept 
by  a  powerful  artillery  ;f  finally,  by 

THE  BATTLE  OF  REAMS'  STATION, 

August  25th,  in  which  twelve  stands  of  colors,  nine  pieces  of 
artillery,  ten  caissons,  twenty-one  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners, 
and  thirty-one  hundred  stands  of  small  arms  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  victors,  who  suffered  a  total  loss  of  but  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  men.J  This  brilliant  stroke  was  delivered  by  Heth,  under 
the  immediate  eye  of  A.  P.  Hill,  and  was  mainly  due  to  the 
steadiness  of  the  North  Carolina  troops,  for  these  constituted 

*  Report  on  Conduct  of  the  War  (1865),  volume  I,  page  110. 

t  In  this  action  the  gallant  Sauuders,  who  led  the  Alabamians  at  the  Crater,  was  killed. 
Immediately  on  the  repulse  of  the  first  attack,  Mahoiie  carefully  reconnoitred,  under  sharp 
fire,  the  whole  front,  and  told  General  Lee  that  with  two  more  brigades  he  would  pledge  him 
self  to  dislodge  Warren  before  nightfall.  The  division  from  which  Lee  at  once  consented  to 
draw  the  additional  support  arrived  too  late  to  make  the  projected  attack  advisable. 

I  A.  P.  Hill's  official  report. 


1 66  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

nearly  the  whole  of  the  assaulting  column,  and  the  first  colors 
planted  on  the  hostile  works  were  borne  by  Sergeant  Roscoe  Rich 
ards,  Twenty-seventh  North  Carolina,  Cooke's  brigade,  Heth's 
division.  General  Lee,  writing  to  Governor  Vance  under  date  of 
August  29th,  says:  "I  have  been  frequently  called  upon  to  men 
tion  the  services  of  North  Carolina  troops  in  this  army,  but  their 
gallantry  and  conduct  were  never  more  deserving  of  admiration 
than  in  the  engagement  at  Reams'  Station  on  the  25th  instant." 
Heth,  with  a  generosity  as  characteristic  of  the  man  as  his  taci 
turn  pluck,  declared  that  he  did  not  believe  that  the  works  would 
have  been  " practicable"  for  any  troops,  had  not  Pegram  first 
shaken  the  position  by  the  terrific  fire  of  his  guns,  and  surely,  so 
long  as  there  is  left  a  survivor  of  that  memorable  day,  the  superb 
conduct  of  the  cavalry  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten.  Lee,  who 
weighed  his  words  if  ever  general  did,  bears  emphatic  testimony 
to  their  gallantry  in  his  official  dispatch,  and  states  that  Hampton 
'"  contributed  largely  to  the  successs  of  the  day."* 

In  these  four  engagements  the  enemy  acknowledge  a  loss  of 
above  seven  thousand  men,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  occupation  of  the  Weldon  road  during  this  month  cost  them 
between  eight  and  nine  thousand  men.  The  Confederate  loss 
was  not  above  one-fourth  that  number. f 

Then  followed  the  severe  combats  of  September  3<Dth  and  Oc 
tober  ist — known  as  the  "Battles  of  the  Jones  House,"  in  which 
the  enemy  again  lost  heavily  in  prisoners^ — after  which  suc 
ceeded  a  period  of  quiet,  broken  by  several  minor  "affairs" 
brought  on  by  continuous  extension  of  the  Federal  left.  The 
Presidential  election  in  the  North  was  now  near  at  hand,§  and 
before  settling  down  into  winter  quarters,  General  Grant  deter 
mined  to  make  one  more  vigorous  effort  to  turn  Lee's  right,  seize 
the  Southside  road,  and  compel  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg. 
For  this  purpose  the  Federal  commander  concentrated  on  his 
left  the  greater  portion  of  three  army  corps,||  and  on  October 
2 ^th  was  fought 

*  Lee's  official  dispatch,  August  26th,  1864. 

t  This  estimate  is  based  on  a  careful  collation  of  Federal  and  Confederate  reports. 

*  General  Cadmus  Wiloox,  in  his  report,  says  the  enemy's  loss  on  September  30th  was  "over 
three  hundred  and  fifty  killed  and  about  two  thousand  prisoners."    On  October  1st,  in  his 
front,  "  the  Federal  line  was  captured  with  three  hundred  prisoners."    "  My  entire  loss,"  he 
adds,  "was  two  hundred  and  eighty-five;  of  this  number  only  fifty-nine  were  killed.    In 
Heth's  brigades  it  was  probably  less."— Transactions  of  Southern  Historical  Society,  April, 
1875.    Swinton  (A.  P.,  page  539)  puts  the  Federal  loss  "  above  twenty-five  hundred." 

5  Mr.  Edward  Lee  Childe,  usually  well  informed,  makes  a  curious  blunder  on  this  point. 
•He  says:  "Grant  ytenait  d' autant  plus  qne l'61ect!on  presidentielle  approcha  t,  et  que  sea 
chances  comme  candidat  augrnenterait  si  le  succes  le  designait  a,  1'  admiration  de  ses  con- 
citoyens." — Le  General  Lee,  Sa  Vie  et  ses  Campagnes,  page  327.  Following  Swinton  (A.  P., 
page  543),  he  represents  I.ce  as  present  wn  the  fii-ld.  At  the  time  of  the  action  L>e  was  north 
of  the  James.  Nor  was  Hill  on  the  field,  as  Swinton  and  Childe  renr.-sent.  Both  largely 
overstate  the  numbers  concentrated  on  the  Confederate  side  during  the  night. 

fl  Swinton,  A.  P.,  page  540. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M'CAI'.K.  l6/ 


THE    1JATTLE    OF    HATCHERS    RUN, 

an  action  so  confused  by  reason  of  the  heavily  wooded  character 
of  the  country,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  you  to  follow  the 
details  without  the  aid  of  a  map,  so  I  must  content  myself  with 
stating1  simply  that  the  attempt  failed;  not  forgetting  the  caution 
to  you,  however,  that  so  far  as  concerns  the  conduct  of  affairs,  and 
the  numbers  engaged  on  the  Confederate  side,  Mr.  Swinton's 
narrative  is  a'very  fallacious  guide. 

Once  more,  Air.  Stanton,  who  had  long  preserved  silence,  ap 
peared  to  chronicle  victory,  and  gold,  which  ever  sympathizes 
with  success,  rose  from  2.i8lj'  to  2.41 — within  ten  days  to  2.57. 
Xor  shall  we  judge  him  harshly  in  this  instance,  for  his  bulletin 
was  based  upon  the  following  dispatch: 

CITY  POINT,  October  27,  '.>  P.  M. 

I  have  just  returned  from  the  crossing  of  the  Boydton  plank- 
road  with  I  latcher's  creek.  At  every  point  the  enemy  was  found 
entrenched  and  his  works  manned.  No  attack  was  made  during 
the  day  further  than  to  drive  the  pickets  and  cavalry  inside  the 
main  works.  Our  casualties  have  been  light — probably  less  than 
two  hundred.  The  same  is  probably  true  of  the  enemy. 

[Later] — The  attack  on  Hancock  proves  to  be  a  decided  suc 
cess.  ITc  lost  no  prisoners  except  the  usual  stragglers,  who  are 
always  picked  up. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

General  Lee's  dispatch  is  as  follows: 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  XORTIIERN  VIRGINIA, 

October  28,  1SG4. 

Honorable  Secretary  of  War — General  Hill  reports  that  the 
attack  of  General  Ileth  upon  the  enemy  on  the  Boydton  plank- 
road,  mentioned  in  my  dispatch  last  evening,  was  made  by  three 
brigades  under  General  Alahone  in  front  and  by  General  Hamp 
ton  in  rear.  Mahone  captured  four  hundred  prisoners,  three 
stands  of  colors,  and  six  pieces  of  artillery.  The  latter  could  not 
be  brought  off,  the  enemy  having  possession  of  the  bridge.  In 
the  attack  subsequently  made  by  the  enemy,  General  Mahone 
broke  three  lines  of  battle,  and  during  the  night  the  enemy  re 
treated,  leaving  his  wounded  and  more  tJian  two  Jiundred  and 
fifty  dead  on  the  field. 

[Later] — "The  total  number  of  prisoners,  according  to  Gene 
ral  Hill's  report,  is  seven  hundred." 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 


l68  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

A  discrepancy  of  statement  which  I  leave  to  be  reconciled  by 
those  better  equipped  for  the  task  than  I  am,  simply  remarking 
that  a  perusal  of  the  war  dispatches  of  General  Grant  and  Gene 
ral  Sheridan  often  recalls  to  one  that  witty  saying  of  Sidney 
Smith:  "Nothing  is  so  deceptive  as  figures,  except — facts." 

On  the  same  day,  General  Field,  north  of  the  James,  captured 
seven  stands  of  colors  and  above  four  hundred  prisoners,*  and 
when  it  leaked  out  in  the  New  York  papers,  as  it  gradually  did, 
that  this  was  no  mere  "advance  for  the  purpose  of  reconnois- 
sance,"  as  stated  by  Mr.  Stanton  in  his  bulletin,  but  a  grand  blow 
for  the  capture  of  Petersburg,  which  had  been  promptly  parried 
with  a  loss  to  the  Federals  of  above  three  thousand  men,  who 
shall  wonder  that  for  the  time  the  "bulls,"  and  not  the  bulletins,, 
had  the  best  of  it  in  Wall  street?  From 

THE    TRIALS    OF   THE    WINTER 

that  followed,  history  would  fain  avert  her  eyes.  They  were 
such  as  can  never  be  fogotten  by  those  who  watched  and  waited;, 
such  as  will  never  be  credited  by  those  who  shall  read  the  story 
hereafter  in  peace  and  plenty.  To  guard  the  long  line  of  en 
trenchments  from  the  Chickahominy  to  Hatcher's  run,  there  was 
'now  left  but  a  gaunt  remnant  of  that  valiant  .host  which  had 
cheered  Lee  in  the  Wilderness  as  it  passed  to  victory;  which  had 
hurled  back  nearly  thrice  its  number  at  Cold  Harbor,  and  wrought 
humiliation  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  a  score  of  fields  in 
this  vigorous  campaign. 

Living  on  one-sixth  of  a  ration  of  corn-meal  and  rancid  pork:f 
remember,  men  and  women  of  Richmond,  that  they  more  than 
once  offered  to  share  that  little  with  the  starving  poor  of  your 
beautiful  city.J  Thinly  clad,  their  bodies  indeed  shivered  under 
the  freezing  blasts  of  heaven,  but  their  dauntless  spirits  cowered 
not  under  the  fiery  blasts  of  war.  But  there  was  to  be  added  a 
pang  deeper  than  the  pang  of  hunger;  sharper  than  the  rigor  of 
the  elements  or  hurt  of  shot  and  steel.  For  now,  from  the  cotton 
lands  of  Georgia  and  the  rice  fields  of  Carolina,  came  borne  on 
every  blast  the  despairing  cry  which  wives  and  little  ones  raised 
to  wintry  skies  lit  by  the  baleful  glare  of  burning  homes,  and  the 
men  of  the  "Old  North  State"  bethought  them  of  the  happy 
homesteads  which  lay  straight  in  the  path  of  the  ruthless  con- 

*  Lee's  official  dispatch,  October  27th,  1864. 

t  This  was  the  case  for  a  considerable  time  In  Hill's  corps. 

t  The  newspapers  of  the  time  are  filled  with  resolutions  to  that  effect,  passed  in  general 
meeting  by  various  regiments  and  battalions  of  the  annv.  On  a  number  of  occasions  the 
scanty  ration  was  evenly  divided  and  actually  sent ;  and  several  times  the  men  voted  to> 
keep  "fast-day  "  once  a  week,  in  order  to  send  that  day's  rations. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.   GORDON    M*CABE.  169 

queror,  who  was  waging  war  with  an  audacious  cruelty  "capable 
of  dishonoring  a  whole  nation."  A  subtle  enemy,  till  then  well- 
nigh  unknown,  attacked  in  rear  this  army  which  still  haughtily 
held  its  front,  and  men,  with  bated  breath  and  cheeks  flushing 
through  their  bronze,  whispered  the  dread  word  "  DESERTION." 

The  historian,  far  removed  from  the  passions  of  the  time,  may 
coldly  measure  out  his  censure;  but  we,  comrades,  bound  to  these 
men  by  countless  proud  traditions,  can  only  cry  with  the  old  He 
brew  prophet,  "Alas!  my  brother!"  and  remember  that  these 
were  valiant  souls,  too  sorely  tried. 

Nor  may  I  venture  to  portray  the  glorious  vicissitudes  of 

THE    BRIEF    CAMPAIGN    OF    '65. 

Foreign  critics  have  censured  Lee,  who  in  February  of  this 
year  was  raised  to  the  empty  rank  of  General-in-Chief,  because 
he  did  not  take  the  commissariat  into  his  own  hands  and  perfect 
measures  for  the  better  care  of  his  men;  but  it  is  criticism  based 
on  imperfect  knowledge,  for  under  General  St.  John  the  commis 
sariat  at  this  time  reached  a  creditable  state  of  efficiency,*  and 
these  critics  should  not  forget  that  the  dictum  of  the  foremost 
master  of  the  art  of  war  is,  that  "to  command  an  army  well,  a 
general  must  think  of  nothing  else."  Others  have  expressed  sur 
prise  that  a  soldier  of  such  nice  foresight  should  have  persisted 
for  so  long  a  time  in  endeavoring  to  maintain  lines  of  such  extent 
with  a  force  constantly  decreasing,  ill  fed  and  poorly  clad;  but 
surely  they  have  failed  to  remember  how  often  in  war  the  sun  of 
military  genius  has  been  obscured  by  the  mists  of  politics. 

Too  late  was  evacuation  determined  upon,  and  on  March  25th 
Gordon  made  his  brilliant  assault  against  the  Federal  right; 
a  daring  stroke,  indeed,  but  the  daring  of  wisdom  and  not  the 
rashness  of  ignoble  despair,  for  by  this  means  alone  could  Lee 
hope  to  force  Grant  to  draw  in  his  left  flank  which  menaced  the 
proposed  line  of  retreat. 

How  Gordon's  sudden  blow  was  at  first  crowned  with  success; 
how  his  guides  ran  away  and  left  his  storming  columns  groping 
in  ignorance ;f  how  his  supports  failed  to  reach  him;  how,  in 
short,  a  moody  fortune  defeated  the  accomplishment  of  the  bold 
plan;  how  later,  when,  to  use  Lee's  own  phrase,  "the  line 
stretched  so  long  as  to  break,"  the  great  commander  yet  yielded 

*  General  John  C.  Breckinriiljre  was  created  Secretary  of  War  on  February  5th,  1365,  and 
at  once  placed  General  I.  M.  St.  John  at  the  head  of  the  Commissary  Pep  irtmeut.  In  a 
letter,  now  in  my  possession,  written  by  General  Breckinridge,  he  says:  "General  St.  John's 
conduct  of  the  department  wns  so  satisfacrory,  that  a  few  weeks  afterwards  I  received  a 
letter  from  General  Lee,  in  which  he  said  that  his  army  had  not  been  so  well  supplied  for 
many  mouths." 

t  Statement  of  Lieutenant-General  John  B.  Gordon. 
12 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

not  to  fate,  but  struck  again  and  again  with  the  old,  fierce  skill — 
all  this,  as  well  as  the  unsparing  story  of  the  ill-starred  battle  of 
Five  Forks,  will,  I  trust,  be  one  day  recounted  to  us  by  some 
comrade  in  memorable  detail. 

On  the  evening  of  April  1st  the  battle  of  Five  Forks  was 
fought  and  lost  to  the  Confederates,  and  at  dawn  next  morning, 
from  Appomattox  to  Hatcher's  run,  the  Federal  assaults  began. 
Lee  was  forced  back  from  the  whole  line  covering  the  Boydton 
plank-road,  and  Gibbon's  division  of  Ord's  corps  boldly  essayed 
to  break  through  into  the  town.  The  way  was  barred  by  an  open 
work  of  heavy  profile,  known  as  "  Battery  Gregg,"  garrisoned  by 
a  mixed  force  of  infantry,  chiefly  North  Carolinians  of  Lane's 
brigade,  and  a  score  of  artillerymen,  in  all  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men.  Thrice  Gibbon's  columns,  above  five  thousand  strong, 
surged  against  the  devoted  outpost;  thrice  they  recoiled,  but 
about  noon  a  fourth  assault  was  ordered,  and  the  assailants, 
rushing  in  front  and  rear,  discovered  with  surprise  and  admira 
tion  that  of  these  two  hundred  and  fifty  brave  men,  two  hundred 
and  twenty  had  been  struck  down,  yet  were  the  wounded  loading 
and  passing  up  their  muskets  to  the  thirty  unhurt  and  invincible 
veterans,  with  no  thought  of  surrender,  still  maintained  a  biting 
fire  from  the  front.  A  splendid  feat  of  arms,  which  taught  pru 
dence  to  the  too  eager  enemy  for  the  remainder  of  the  day,  for 
nearly  six  hundred  of  Gibbon's  men  lay  dead  and  stricken  in 
front  of  the  work,  and  the  most  daring  of  the  assailants  recog 
nized  that  an  army  of  such  metal  would  not  easily  yield  the 
inner  lines.* 

ON    THAT    NIGHT    PETERSBURG    WAS    EVACUATED. 

But  though  time  admonishes  me  to  pass  over  in  such  brief 
fashion  these  last  eventful  days,  duty»bids  me  pause  to  make 
mention  of  two,  who,  everywhere  conspicuous  in  the  defence, 
yielded  up  their  lives  at  the  end. 

One,  high  in  rank,  had  been  trained  to  the  profession  of  arms, 
and  at  the  very  outbreak  of  hostilities  offered  to  his  native  State 
a  sword  already  forged  to  an  heroic  temper  by  fire  of  battle. 

Endowed  by  nature  with  commanding  resolution  and  marvel- 

*  The  detachment  from  Lane's  brigade  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  George  H.  Snow, 
Thirty-third  North  Carolina.  There  were  also  in  the  fort  some  supernumerary  artillerymen, 
armed  as  infantry,  a  section  of  Chew's  Maryland  battery,  and  small  detachments  from  Har 
ris'  Mississippi  brigade  (under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Duncan),  and  from  Thomas'  Georgia 
brigade  (under  Captain  William  Norwood).  The  error  of  attributing  this  brilliant  defence  to 
Harris'  brigade  alone,  doubtless  arose  from  Lieutenant-Colonel  Duncan  of  that  brigade  being 
the  rai  king  officer  in  the  fort.  The  incident  of  the  wounded  men  loading  and  passing  up 
the  muskets  to  their  comrades,  is  attested  by  officers  in  the  fort ;  but  I  learn  from  General 
Lane's  MS.  report  that  the  ammunition  giving  out,  the  men  used  rocks  with  great  effect. 
General  Lane's  report  has  been  published  in  the  Southern  Historical  Society  Papers. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  I/I 

ous  energy,  his  " forward  spirit"  ever  " lifted  him  where  most 
trade  of  danger  ranged,"  and  from  that  thrice  glorious  day  when, 
leading  in  at  Mechanicsville  his  superb  "Light  Division"  with 
all  the  fire  of  youth  and  skill  of  age,  he  dislodged  McClellan's 
right  flank  on  the  upper  Chickahominy,  even  to  this  memorable 
April  morning,  when,  riding  with  a  single  courier  far  in  advance 
of  his  men,  he  sough  to  restore  his  broken  lines  at  Petersburg — 
his  every  utterance  and  action  was  informed  by  the  lofty  spirit  of 
a  patriot,  by  the  firmness  and  address  of  a  valiant  soldier. 

Much  he  suffered  during  this  last  campaign  from  a  grivous 
malady,  yet  the  vigor  of  his  soul  disdained  to  consider  the  weak 
ness  of  his  body,  and  accepting  without  a  murmur  the  privations 
of  that  terrible  winter,  he  remained  steadfast  to  his  duty  until 
the  fatal  bullet  stilled  the  beatings  of  a  noble  heart  which  had  so 
often  throbbed  responsive  to  the  music  of  victory. 

No  more  splendid  monument,  no  nobler  epitaph,  than  of  that 
Latour  d'Avergne,  "the  first  grenadier  of  France,"  to  whose 
name  every  morning  at  roll-call  in  the  French  army,  answer  was 
made,  as  the  front-rank  man  on  right  of  his  old  company  stepped 
forward  and  saluted:  Mort  sur  Ic  champ  dc  bataillc — "dead  upon 
the  field  of  battle."  Such  monument,  such  epitaph,  at  least,  is 
that  of 


and  the  men  of  his  old  corps  remember  with  sorrowful  pride 
that  his  name  lingered  last  upon  the  dying  lips  of  Lee  and  of 
Jackson.* 

Of  the  other,  who  fell  but  the  evening  before  at  Five  Forks,  I 
almost  fear  to  speak,  lest  I  should  do  hurt  to  that  memory  which 
I  would  honor.  For  to  those  who  knew  him  not,  the  simplest 
outline  of  a  character  so  finely  tempered  by  stern  and  gentle  vir 
tues  would  seem  but  an  ideal  picture  touched  with  the  tender 
exaggeration  of  retrospective  grief;  while  to  so  many  of  you  who 
knew  him  as  he  was — the  gentle  comrade  and  the  brilliant  fighter — 
any  portrait  must  prove,  at  best,  but  a  blurred  semblance  of  the 
young  soldier,  whose  simple,  heroic,  godly  life  rejects,  as  it  were, 
all  human  panegyric.  Yet  even  the  coldest  must  allow  that  it 
was  a  life  which  afforded  a  notable  example  of  how  great  a  career 
may  be  crowded  within  the  compass  of  a  few  years.  In  the  spring 
of  '6 1,  a  youth  of  modest  demeanor,  he  entered  the  military  ser 
vice  as  a  private  soldier;  in  the  spring  of  '65,  still  a  mere  lad,  he 
fell  in  action,  Colonel  of  Artillery,  mourned  by  an  army. 

*  "Tell  Hill  he  -\ni(*t  come  up."— Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston's  account  of  Lee's  last 
moments— Kev.  J.  Win.  Jones'  Personal  Reminiscences  of  General  K.  E.  Lee,  page  451. 

"A.  P.  Hill,  prepare  for  action."— Dabney's  Life  of  Jackson,  page  719. 


1/2  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

More  than  once  in  desperate  and  critical  events  were  grave 
trusts  confided  to  his  prudence,  skill  and  courage;  more  than 
once  did  he  win  emphatic  praise  from  Hill,  from  Jackson,  and 
from  Lee.  Thus  it  was  his  lot  to  be  tried  in  great  events  and  his 
fortune  to  be  equal  to  the  trial,  and  having  filled  the  measure  of 
perfect  knighthood,  "chaste  in  his  thoughts,  modest  in  his  words, 
liberal  and  valiant  in  deeds,"  there  was  at  last  accorded  him  on 
field  of  battle  the  death  counted  "  sweet  and  honorable." 

Such  was 

WILLIAM    JOHNSON    PEGRAM, 

of  the  Third  corps,  who,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-two,  died 
sword  in  hand  at  the  head  of  his  men,  with  all  his  "  honor-owing 
wounds"  in  front  "to  make  a  soldier's  passage  for  his  soul." 

On  Sunday  night,  April  2d,  the  lines  of  Petersburg  and  Rich 
mond  were,  as  I  have  said,  evacuated,  and  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  passed  out  in  retreat.  Thus  were  yielded  at  the 
last  forty  miles  of  entrenchments  guarded  by  less  than  forty 
thousand  men,*  yet  held  during  ten  months  of  ceaseless  vigil 
and  fevered  famine  with  such  grim  tenacity,  as  has  made  it  hard 
for  the  brave  of  every  nation  to  determine  whether  to  accord 
their  sorrowful  admiration  more  to  the  stern  prowess  of  the 
simple  soldier,  or  to  the  matchless  readiness  of  a  leader  who  by 
the  fervor  of  his  genius  developed  from  slender  resources  such 
amazing  power. 

With  the  abandonment  of  these  lines  ends  the  task  confided 
to  me,  comrades,  by  your  generous  partiality.  To  some  other 
hand  must  be  confided  the  story  of  that  disastrous  week  which 
culminated  in  the  surrender  at  Appomattox; — a  day  which 
marked,  indeed,  the  wreck  of  a  nation,  yet  which  may  be  recalled 
with  no  blush  of  shame  by  the  men  who  there  sadly  furled  those 
tattered  colors  emblazoned  with  the  names  of  Manassas  and 
Fredericksburg,  of  Chancellorsville  and  Cold  Harbor — who  there 
returned  a  park  of  blackened  guns  wrested  from  the  victors  at 
Games'  Mill  and  Frazier's  Farm,  at  Second  Manassas  and  Har 
per's  Ferry,  at  the  Wilderness  and  Reams'  Station,  at  Appomattox 
Courthouse  itself  on  that  very  morning — who  there,  in  the  presence 
of  above  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  of  their  adversaries, 
stacked  eight  thousand  of  those  "bright  muskets"  which  for 
more  than  four  years  had  "borne  upon  their  bayonets"  the 
mightiest  Revolt  in  history. 

*  In  field  returns  for  February,  1805,  the  number  given  is  fifty-nine  thousand  and  ninety, 
four  for  Department  of  Northern  Virginia,  but  as  General  Early  very  pertinently  remarks- 
this  "affords  no  just  criterion  of  the  real  strength  of  that  army,  as  those  return's  included 
the  forces  in  the  Valley  and  other  outlying  commands  not  available  for  duty  on  the  lines." — 
Southern  Historical  Society  Papers,  July,  1ST6,  page  19.  General  Lee  himself  says  :  "At  the 
time  of  withdrawing  from  the  lines  around  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  the  number  of  troops 
amounted  to  about  thirty-five  thousand."— Letter  to  General  William  S.  Smith,  July  2Ith, 
1868,  Reminiscences  of  General  Lee,  page  268. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    MCABE.  1/3 

Nor  shall  those  men  ever  forget  the  generous  bearing  of  the 
victorious  host,  which  even  in  that  supreme  moment  of  triumph 
remembered  that  this  gaunt  remnant  were  the  survivors  of  an 
army  which  but  two  years  before  had  dealt  them  such  staggering 
blows  that  there  were  more  deserters  from  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  than  there  were  men  for  duty  in  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia* — that  they  were  the  survivors  of  that  army  which,  from 
the  Wilderness  to  Cold  Harbor,  had  put  hors  du  combat  more 
men  than  Lee  had  carried  into  the  campaign;  which,  from  Cold 
Harbor  to  Five  Forks,  had  again  put  hors  du  combat  as  great  a 
number  as  was  left  him  for  the  defence  of  Petersburg.^ 

Surely,  it  is  meet  that,  with  each  recurring  year,  the  survivors 
of  such  an  army  should  gather  themselves  together  to  hear  and 
know  the  truth.  Thus  shall  the  decorum  of  history  be  pre 
served  and  error  be  not  perpetuated. 

It  is  a  duty,  comrades,  which  we  owe  to  ourselves,  which  we 
owe  to  our  children,  which  we  owe  to  our  leader,  whose  fame 
shall  shine  with  added  lustre  when  the  true  nature  of  his  diffi 
culties  shall  be  laid  bare — when  it  shall  be  made  clear  to  all,  to 
what  measure  Lee,  the  Soldier,  stood  in  the  shade  of  powers  to 
which  Lee,  the  Patriot,  rendered  patriotic  obedience.  Yet  of 
this  are  we  sure,  that  it  is  a  fame  which  malice  cannot  touch, 
which  florid  panegyric  cannot  injure — a  fame  which  may  well 
await  the  verdict  of  that  time  of  which  his  ablest  critic  speaks 
with  such  prophetic  confidence:  ''When  History,  with  clear 
voice,  shall  recount  the  deeds  done  on  either  side,  and  the  citi 
zens  of  the  whole  Union  do  justice  to  the  memories  of  the  dead 
and  place  above  all  others  the  name  of  him  who,  in  strategy 
mighty,  in  battle  terrible,  in  adversity  as  in  prosperity  a  hero 
indeed,  with  the  simple  devotion  to  duty,  and  the  rare  purity  of 
the  ideal  Christian  knight,  joined  all  the  kingly  qualities  of  a 
leader  of  men." 

Above  all,  it  is  duty,  which  we  owe  those  dauntless  spirits  who 
preferred  death  in  resistance  to  safety  in  submission. 

"  For  a  little  while,"  says  Dr.  Draper,  the  Union  historian, 
"those  who  have  been  disappointed  clamor,  then  objurgation  sub 
sides  into  murmurs,  and  murmurs  sink  into  souvenirs,  and  souve 
nirs  end  in  oblivion." 


*  "At  the  moment  I  was  placed  in  command  (26th  January,  1S63),  T  caused  a  return  to  be 
made  of  the  absentees  of  the  army,  ami  found  the  number  to  be  two  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  twenty-two  commissioned  officers  and  elglity-one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-four 
non-commissioned  officers  an<'  privates.  The  desertions  were  at  the  rate  of  about  two  hun 
dred  a  day." — Testimony  of  Major-General  Joseph  Hooker  before  the  Congressional  Com 
mittee,  March  llth,  lSt',5,  Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  volume  I,  pag»-  112.  The  field 
returns  for  month  of  January,  1S03,  give  seventy-two  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-six 
men  "for  duty  "  in  the  whole  Department  of  Northern  Virginia. 

t  This  statement  is  the  result  of  careful  calculations  of  Federal  losses,  based  entirely  on 
figures  given  by  Swinton  and  other  Northern  historians. 


MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

But  no — 

Time  cannot  teach  forgetfulness 
When  grief's  full  heart  is  fed  by  fame. 

Here,  in  this  battle-crowned  capital  of  our  ancient  Common 
wealth,  shall  "the  men  who  wore  the  gray"  yearly  gather  and 
recall  the  names  of  those  who  went  forth  to  battle  at  the  bidding 
of  Virginia — who  now  lie  sleeping  on  the  bosom  of  this  mother, 
that  not  unmindful  of  their  valor,  not  ungrateful  for  this  filial 
devotion,  shall  keep  forever  bright  the  splendor  of  their  deeds, 
"till  earth,  and  seas,  and  skies  are  rended." 

No  "  Painted  Porch "  is  hers,  like  that  of  Athens,  where,  for 
half  a  thousand  years,  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  had  fol 
lowed  Miltiades  to  victory  might  trace  the  glories  of  their  Ma 
rathon;  no  gleaming  Chapelle  des  Invalides,  with  the  light  flam 
ing  through  gorgeous  windows  on  tattered  flags  of  battle;  no 
grand  historic  Abbey,  like  that  of  England,  where,  hard  by 
the  last  resting  place  of  her  princes  and  her  kings,  sleep  the 
great  soldiers  who  have  writ  glorious  names  high  upon  their 
country's  roll  with  the  point  of  their  stainless  swords. 

Nay,  none  of  this  is  hers. 

Only  the  frosty  stars  to-night  keep  solemn  watch  and  ward 
above  the  wind-swept  graves  of  those,  who,  from  Potomac  to 
James,  from  Rapidan  to  Appomattox,  yielded  up  their  lives  that 
they  might  transmit  to  their  children  the  heritage  of  their  fathers. 

Weep  on,  Virginia,  weep  these  lives  given  to  thy  cause  in  vain  ; 

The  stalwart  sons  who  ne'er  shall  heed  thy  trumpet-call  again ; 

The  homes  whose  light  is  quenched  for  aye ;  the  graves  without  a  stone ; 

The  folded  flag,  the  broken  sword,  the  hope  forever  flown. 

Yet  raise  thy  hea'l,  fair  land  !  thy  dead  died  bravely  for  the  right; 
The  folded  flag  is  stainless  still,  the  broken  sword  is  bright ; 
No  blot  is  on  thy  record  found,  no  treason  soils  thy  fame, 
Nor  can  disaster  ever  dim  the  lustre  of  thy  name.* 

Pondering  in  her  heart  all  their  deeds  and  words,  Virginia  calls 
us,  her  surviving  sons,  "from  weak  regrets  and  womanish  laments 
to  the  contemplation  of  their  virtues,"  bidding  us,  in  the  noble 
words  of  Tacitus, f  to  "honor  them  not  so  much  with  transitory 
praises  as  with  our  reverence,  and,  if  our  powers  permit  us,  with 
our  emulation." 

Reminding  her  children,  who  were  faithful  to  her  in  war,  that 
"the  reward  of  one  duty  is  the  power  to  fulfill  another,"  she  points 
to  the  tasks  left  unfinished  when  the  "nerveless  hands  drooped 

*  These  lines  are  slightly  altered  from  the  noble  poem  entitled  "The  Ninth  of  April,  1865," 
by  Percy  Greg— Interleaves  in  the  Work  Day  Prose  of  Twenty  Years— London,  1875. 

t  Agri.,  chapter  xlvi. 


ADDRESS    OF    CAPTAIN    W.    GORDON    M  CABE.  1/5 

over  the  spotless  shields,"  and  with  imperious  love  claims  a  fealty 
no  less  devoted  in  these  days  of  peace. 

I  claim  no  vision  of  seer  or  prophet,  yet  I  fancy  that  even  now 
I  descry  the  faint  dawn  of  that  day  which  thousands  wait  on  with 
expectant  eyes;  when  all  this  land — still  the  fairest  on  the  globe — 
this  land  which  has  known  so  long  what  old  Isaiah  termed  the 
"dimness  of  anguish" — shall  grow  glad  again  in  the  broad  sun 
light  of  prosperity,  and  from  Alleghany  to  Chesapeake  shall  re 
sound  the  hum  and  stir  of  busy  life;  when  yonder  noble  road 
stead,  where  our  iron-clad  "Virginia"  revolutionized  the  naval 
tactics  of  two  continents,  shall  be  whitened  by  many  a  foreign 
sail,  and  you,  her  children,  shall  tunnel  those  grand  and  hoary 
mountains,  whose  every  pass  Lee  and  "old  Stonewall"  have  made 
forever  historic  by  matchless  skill  and  daring.  Thus,  comrades, 
assured  of  her  heroic  past,  stirred  by  a  great  hope  for  her  future, 
may  we  to-night  re-echo  the  cry  of  Richmond  on  Bosworth  field: 

"  Xow  civil  wounds  are  stopped,  peace  lives  again  ; 
That  she  may  long  live  here,  God  say  amen  !  " 

The  following  officers  were  elected: 

President—  General  W.  H.  F.  LEE. 

Vice-Presidents — General  Robert  Ransom,  General  Harry  Heth, 
General  A.  L.  Long,  General  William  Terry  and  Captain  D.  B. 
McCorkle. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Secretaries — Sergeants  George  L.  Christian  and  Leroy  S.  Ed 
wards. 

Executive  Committee — General  B.  T.  Johnson,  Colonel  Thomas 
H.  Carter,  Major  T.  A.  Brancler,  Major  \V.  K.  Martin,  Private 
Carlton  McCarthy. 

THE  BANQUET. 

After  the  exercises  in  the  capitol,  the  Association  and  their 
invited  guests  assembled  at  a  splendid  banquet  spread  in  the 
spacious  dining  room  of  the  Saint  Claire  Hotel. 

In  response  to  toasts,  eloquent  and  thrilling  speeches  were 
made  by  General  T.  M.  Logan,  Captain  James  Lamb,  Judge  F. 
R.  Farrar,  Private  C.  McCarthy,  Captain  J.  H.  Chamberlayne, 
General  Fitz.  Lee,  Dr.  R.  T.  Coleman,  Dr.  J.  S.  D.  Cullen,  Rev. 
Alexander  Weddell,  Major  John  \V.  Daniel,  General  B.  T.  John 
son,  and  others. 


SEVENTH  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


A  splendid  audience  assembled  in  the  State  Capitol  on  the 
evening  of  the  1st  of  November,  1877. 

Rev.  Dr.  John  E.  Edwards  opened  the  exercises  with  a  fervent 
and  appropriate  prayer,  after  which  the  President,  General  W. 
H.  F.  Lee,  made  a  brief  but  eloquent  address,  and  introduced 
Leigh  Robinson,  Esq.,  of  Washington,  who  had  served  as  a  gal 
lant  private  in  the  Richmond  Howitzers,  and  had  been  chosen  as 
the  orator  of  the  evening. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  enthusiastically  greeted,  and  frequently  ap 
plauded  as  he  delivered  the  following  address: 

ADDRESS  OF  PRIVATE  LEIGH  ROBINSON.* 

I. 

Fellow  Soldiers — I  will  not  detain  you  by  the  expression  of 
the  pride  with  which  I  received,  and  the  sense  of  the  honor  to 
myself  with  which  I  accepted,  the  invitation  to  address  you. 
From  either  feeling-  excessive  vanity  alone  could  save  me.  But 
it  is  of  more  consequence,  just  at  present,  both  to  you  and  to 
myself,  to  show  my  appreciation  of  the  compliment  by  at  least 
my  own  endeavor  to  discharge,  as  best  I  may,  the  duty  it  im 
poses — the  duty  at  all  times  difficult,  at  all  times  delicate,  of 
recounting,  with  due  sensibility  and  without  undue  eagerness, 
honorable  exploit  with  which,  however  humbly,  we  feel  our 
selves  identified. 

There  is  a  reply  of  some  celebrity  from  a  Spartan  to  a  rheto 
rician,  who  proposed  to  pronounce  an  eulogium  on  Hercules. 
"On  Hercules,"  said  the  Spartan,  "who  ever  thought  of  blaming 
Hercules?"  And  certainly  man's  valor,  the  hero's  fear  of  evils 
greater  than  death  and  temporal  disaster,  by  virtue  of  which  he 
is  man,  and  has  virtue,  as  it  does  not  require  apology,  on  the  one 
hand,  not  unbecomingly,  perhaps,  may  dispense  with  eulogy  on 
the  other.  Charles  V  said :  "  How  many  languages  one  knows, 
so  many  times  he  is  a  man."  How,  then,  are  we  to  reckon  the 
polyglot  Mezzofanti,  who  carried  the  tongues,  not  of  all  litera 
tures  merely,  but  well-nigh  of  all  articulate  sound,  in  his  head, 

NOTE  BY  THE  COMPILER.— Mr.  Robinson  omitted  in  the  delivery  about  half  of  this  address, 
but  the  Association  asked  the  whole  for  publication. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  1 77 

speaking  one  hundred  and  fourteen  languages  in  all,  yet  leaving  no 
memorable  word  in  one?  The  tongue  of  fire,  by  which  language 
is  not  only  uttered  but  informed,  and  made  itself  a  vital  spark, 
was  not  among  his  members.  How  shall  we  compare  this 
wonder  of  all  tongues  with  Latour  d'Avergne,  "the  first  grena 
dier  of  France,"  for  whose  death,  while  repulsing  the  front  rank 
of  a  charge  of  imperial  cavalry,  a  whole  army  wore  mourning; 
to  whose  memory  the  republican  General  Desrolles  erected  a 
monument  on  the  spot  where  he  fell,  which,  "consecrated  to  vir 
tue  and  courage,  and  put  under  the  protection  of  the  brave  of 
every  age  and  country,"  received  that  protection  from  the  enemy 
he  resisted,  and  remained  in  a  foreign  land  to  the  honor  alike  of 
the  friend  who  raised  and  the  foe  who  respected  it?  Here  was, 
if  not  an  audible,  then,  at  least,  a  visible  speech;  the  flame  image 
of  a  hero,  appealing  to  all  races  and  all  ranks,  from  the  chariot 
and  horses  of  fire  by  which  he  ascends  to  the  skies.  To  fall  on 
the  field  of  battle,  with  the  ties  of  some  common  cause  of  man 
hood  behind,  and  in  front  the  spears  of  some  "proud  Edward's 
power,"  is  to  live  forever  in  the  muster  of  the  faithful;  and  in  all 
ages,  and  to  all  nations,  has  seemed  a  sweet  and  honorable  thing. 
In  the  front  rank  of  duty,  to  opppose  the  odds  of  number  and  of 
fate,  is  man's  highest  act  of  faith,  and  not  once,  but  always,  is 
put  under  the  protection  of  the  brave  of  ever}'  age  and  country. 
The  brave  are  one  kindred;  from  age  to  age  they  are  a  sacred 
band.  They  are  the  true  immortals.  Theirs  is  the  first  of  all 
gifts — the  gift  to  quit  themselves  like  men.  By  how  many  times 
a  man  has  greatly  dared  and  overcome,  or  in  unequal  battle  over 
borne,  fought  stoutly  to  the  last,  by  so  man}'  times  he  is  a  man. 
Properly,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  who  ever  thought  of  blaming 
such  ? 

But  if,  in  the  comparatively  trivial  business  of  cooking  a  hare, 
first  to  catch  him,  according  to  the  recipe  of  Mrs.  Glass,  is  essen 
tial  to  success,  surely,  in, the  paramount  matter  of  a  Hercules,  we 
must  do  as  much  before  we  undertake  to  serve  him  up  with  or 
without  the  sauces.  Even  Hercules  has  counterfeits,  and  here, 
more  than  in  any  other  prime  necessity  of  life,  the  genuine  arti 
cle  is  indispensable.  Once  put  beyond  controversy  the  facts  of 
your  prowess,  and  I  agree  with  the  Spartan,  that  panegyric  be 
longs  to  the  supererogatory  works.  But  clearly,  it  is  of  the  last 
importance  to  have  and  to  hold  the  facts. 

Such  a  suggestion,  reasonable  at  all  times,  can  at  no  time  be 
more  certainly  judicious  than  when  the  struggle  to  be  recorded  is 
the  expression  of  the  whole  faculty  and  character  of  a  people; 
stands  forth  as  the  most  vivid  image  of  what  brains  and  sinew, 
and  conscience,  had  arrived  at  in  their  case;  and,  being  such, 


178  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

must  more  and  more  be  accepted  as  the  most  infallible  measure, 
which  does  or  can  exist,  of  whatever  virtue  or  whatever  want  of 
virtue  did  dwell  in  them.  The  sum  total  of  all  which  the  past 
has  done  for  them,  of  all  which  they  have  achieved  and  become 
in  the  past,  in  such  case  is  comprehended  and  depicts  itself  in 
one  supreme  exhibition.  History  thus  concentrates  and  reveals, 
itself  in  figures  drawn  to  the  life. 

Such  a  trial  of  arms,  so  commensurate  with  the  whole  tone 
and  tension,  settled  light  and  shadow  of  the  South,  as  to  have 
received  their  image  and  superscription  and  be  their  revelation, 
has  been  transacted  in  our  day  and  generation,  by  us  and  those 
we  represent.  That  lantern  in  the  vessel's  stern,  shining  only  on 
the  waves  that  are  behind,  which  all  experience  has  been  likened 
to — that  lantern  is  our  civil  war.  By  all  means  let  all  heroic 
facts  be  collected  and  protected.  Let  the  truth  with  all  sim 
plicity,  if  need  be  with  all  severity,  be  told. 

An  association,  then,  pledged  to  find  out  and  true  answer  make 
to  the  question,  how  was  it  that,  with  such  disparity  of  force,, 
environed,  blockaded,  beleaguered  by  the  world — the  very  medi 
cine-chest  interdicted — how  was  it  the  unprovided  South  waged 
such  a  contest;  more  especially,  how  did  that  portion  of  it  known, 
once  and  forever,  as  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  not  only  endure 
the  toils  of  war,  but  again  and  again  carry  off  its  honors,  from 
greatly  superior  numbers  and  munitions  ? — such  an  association 
can  hardly  be  overestimated  by  a  people  jealous  of  their  honor.. 
It  must  tell  the  story  of  valor  which  was  ineffectual,  of  fortitude 
which  seems  fallacious;  of  a  cause  to  which  the  rich  gave  of 
their  abundance  and  the  poor  of  their  penury;  in  whose  behalf 
honorable  eminence  and  honest  poverty  were  willing  to  exceed 
the  measure  of  exaction,  "  hoping  all  things,  believing  all  things." 
It  must  tell  how  a  whole  people  arose  with  one  emotion  and 
conviction;  how,  in  a  desperate  game,  the  South  played  her  rose 
nobles,  if  not  against,  then,  at  least,  with  as  free  a  hand  as  if  they 
were  so  many  crooked  half-pennies ;  how  victory  to  the  South 
was  as  exhaustive  as  defeat,  and  defeat  to  the  North  answered 
the  purposes  of  victory;  how  the  life  of  the  South  waned  as  her 
glory  waxed ;  how  she  graved  her  faith  on  her  escutcheon ;  how 
her  sons  bore  the  ark  of  her  strength,  like  a  plume  of  victory, 
from  Bethel  to  Gettysburg;  how  they  clenched  in  their  long 
death-grip,  from  the  Wilderness  to  Appomattox,  and  how  at  the 
last,  and  to  the  last,  a  remnant  which  rose  above  the  carnage  of 
war,  the  ruin  of  homes,  the  cry  of  distress,  still  gathered  around 
a  chieftain's  form  with  the  self-immolation  of  despair.  All  this 
it  must  tell,  and  truly;  if  need  be,  severely  tell. 

Surely  it  is  now  high  time  to  admit  that,  with  such  object  ia 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON. 

view,  you  have  applied  to  a  quarter  where,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  the  details  of  such  knowledge  must  be  plentifully  lacking. 
You  have  applied,  not  to  the  officers  of  the  field  and  staff,  who 
led  your  hope,  wielded  and  organized  your  force — to  none  of 
these  renowned  men,  but  to  one  far  different;  to  a  private  soldier 
in  the  lowest  rank,  and  greatly  undistinguished  there.  An  ob 
scure  artilleryman,  especially  when  under  fire,  is  liable  to  take 
the  same  dispassionate  view  of  a  conflict  raging  all  along  a  line 
of  miles,  as  the  average  politician  seizes  of  the  moral  universe, 
of  which,  curiously  enough,  he,  too,  is  part.  The  flat  fish,  having 
eyes  only  on  one  side,  is  badly  built  for  the  vocation  of  tourist 
or  descriptive  voyager;  but  a  man  whose  whole  duty  for  four 
years  was  to  follow  blindly,  suddenly  ordered  to  look,  not  on  one 
side  only,  but  on  all  sides — that,  too,  after  the  lapse  of  years — is 
worse  off  than  a  flat  fish,  or  any  other  kind  of  fish,  except,  of 
course,  a  fish  out  of  water.  As  the  cockney  tourist  said  to  the 
Highlander,  who  addressed  him  is  Gaelic,  "Some  explanation  is 
necessary."  Most  unaffectedly  I  am  embarrassed  to  find  myself 
a  critic  of  the  deeds  of  them  who  led  the  history  which  I  but 
followed.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  to  every 
leader,  were  he  the  greatest,  a  follower  is  a  quite  indispensable 
appendage.  Furthermore,  in  our  cause,  it  may  be  said  that 
leader  and  follower  were  one.  We  were  his  to  follow;  he  was 
ours  to  lead.  He  was  in  the  van,  because  the  hearts  he  led  were 
in  the  van,  and  we  followed  unconscious  we  were  drawn.  It 
seems  you  are  resolved  to  know  how  this  great  matter  shaped 
itself  to  the  common  soldier;  how  his  mind,  numerically  the 
greatest,  reconciled  itself  to  the  situation,  and  with  decidedly  ap 
proving  conscience  volunteered  his  body  to  be  made  food  for 
powder.  Not  so  illogically,  after  all,  perhaps,  for  your  "bottom 
facts"  you  have  gone  to  your  bottom  man.  The  blood  I  shall 
shed  to-night  be  on  you. 

II. 

Any  portrayal  of  any  one  of  the  scenes  of  our  great  civil  strife 
is  incomplete  which  has  not  for  background  the  depth  of  sin 
cerity  of  conviction  in  the  South,  which  rallied  every  principle 
of  duty,  and,  answering  exaction  with  devotion,  made  obedience 
a  privilege.  The  history  of  the  war,  minus  the  justification  of 
the  war,  it  seems  to  me,  were  the  principal  character  omitted. 
We  believed  in  our  capacity  for  local  self-government;  we  be 
lieved  in  our  right  to  community  independence  as  the  best  means 
of  attaining  the  honest  welfare  of  a  neighborhood.  We  believed 
in  a  Federal  Union,  and  deemed  this  tantamount  to  saying  we 


ISO  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

believed  in  republican  institutions — not  the  fancy,  but  the  reality 
of  commonwealths.  We  believed  that  such  was  the  nature  of 
the  Federal  compact  to  which  we  had  acceeded,  and  that  it  was 
best  for  simplicity,  best  for  economy,  best  for  peace,  best  for  lib 
erty,  that  it  should  be  so. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  centralizations  which  antagonize  all 
this  seemed  to  us  to  concentrate  wealth  and  power  in  one  quarter 
by  abstracting  it  from  others,  not  always  prepared  or  content  to 
spare;  in  this  way  to  accumulate  great  wealth  and  greater  pov 
erty;  to  replenish  the  palace  and  plunder  the  cottage;  make  the 
rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer;  the  strong  more  absolute,  the 
weak  more  helpless.  Vast  empires,  immense  populations  and 
resources  have  been  administered  by  governments  of  this  kind, 
but  invariably  under  the  shadow  of  domestic  sedition.  They 
rest  on  a  sleeping  lion.  Power,  which  is  false  in  its  methods, 
must  needs  be  oppressive  in  its  measures.  Louis  Napoleon 
wielded  just  such  a  sceptre;  but  when  he  wished  to  join  the 
shooting  party  of  one  of  his  subjects  he  went  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  police,  and  when  he  visited  Baron  Rothschild  the 
whole  establishment  was  put  under  surveillance  for  two  weeks 
beforehand.  He  said,  "The  empire  is  peace";  and  in  what  a 
whirlwind  did  he  and  his  rotten  empire  sweep  from  the  earth. 
It  is  preposterous  for  maladministration  to  say,  "  Let  us  have 
peace!"  and  for  freeman  it  is  worse — it  is  criminal  to  concede  it. 
It  is  not  peace  established  in  power,  but  captured  in  shame;  not 
throned  on  high  by  willing  witnesses,  but  pinned  to  the  earth  by 
imperial  steel — the  peace  of  the  bayonet. 

We  held  that  such  a  government  was  not  for  the  public  good, 
but  for  the  public  wrong,  and  by  men  and  patriots  should  be  re 
sisted.  "We,"  said  the  barons  of  Arragon  to  their  king,  "who 
are  each  of  us  as  good,  and  who  are  altogether  more  powerful 
than  you,  promise  obedience  to  your  government  if  you  main 
tain  our  rights  and  privileges,  but  if  not,  not."  The  French  rev 
olution  was  possible  in  the  shape  which  it  assumed,  because  ad 
ministrative  centralization  had  swallowed  up  the  provinces,  and 
made  Paris  the  throat  by  which  a  whole  people  could  be  collared 
and  garroted.  The  Reign  of  Terror  was  little  more  than  a  dem 
ocratic  application  of  the  Old  Regime.  It  was  the  combination 
of  despotism  and  "equality,"  so-called.  In  a  word,  this  idea  of 
local  self-government  has  been  the  vital  germ  of  free  institutions 
wherever  they  have  existed.  Bunsen  finds  this  fact  in  the  twen 
ty-seven  nomes  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  infers  liberty  then  and 
there  as  a  consequence. 

It  is  a  kind  of  loose  confederacy,  the  outgrowth  of  religion, 
treaties  and  international  law,  which  gives  the  nations  of  modern 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  iSl 

Europe  some  of  the  advantages  of  a  European  commonwealth, 
makes  them  spectators  and  critics  of  each  other,  and  stimulates, 
each  to  strive  with  rivals  for  the  mastery. 

Nor  is  independence  and  the  strength  of  independence  the 
only  blessing.  From  the  passion  of  free  thought  beautiful 
thought  naturally  rises.  Beauty,  no  less  than  freedom,  may  be 
served.  The  grand  eye  of  G&ethe,  glancing  at  a  map  of  France 
by  Dupin,  in  which  some  of  the  departments  were  marked  en 
tirely  in  black,  to  denote  the  mental  darkness  prevailing  in  those 
parts,  incites  him  to  ask:  "Could  this  ever  be  if  la  belle  France 
had  ten  centres  instead  of  one?  .  .  .  Frankfort,  Bre 
men,  Hamburg  and  Lubeck  are  great  and  splendid  cities.  Their 
influence  on  the  prosperity  of  Germany  is  immeasurable;  but 
could  they  remain  what  they  are,  if  deprived  of  their  sover 
eignty — they  were  to  be  degraded  to  the  rank  of  provincial 
towns  in  some  great  German  empire?  I  have  reason  to  doubt 
it."  When  was  it  that  Greece  was  the  forehead  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  the  heart  which  drank  and  rendered  back  its  beauty? 
Was  it  when  her  once  sovereign  States,  planed  of  their  edges, 
were  stuck,  carbuncle  shape,  in  Alexander's  ring,  or  was  it  when 
the  planes  of  her  rose-diamond  had  each  a  focus  of  its  own? 
Grote  epitomized  many  histories  into  one  paragraph,  when  he 
wrote  of  Athenian  supremacy:  "Every  successive  change  of  an 
armed  ally  into  a  tributary — every  subjugation  of  a  scceder — 
tended,  of  course,  to  cut  down  the  numbers  and  enfeeble  the 
authority  of  the  Delian  Synod;  and  what  was  still  worse,  it  altered 
the  reciprocal  relations  and  feelings  both  of  Athens  and  her  allies, 
exalting  the  former  into  something  like  a  despot,  and  degrading 
the  latter  into  mere  passive  subjects." 

To  drop  wise  saws  for  modern  instances:  See  the  Dutch  re 
public  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries!  See  a  league 
of  seven  crowned  with  pre-eminence  in  commerce  and  manu 
factures;  see  them  become  the  workshop,  the  granary  of  many; 
adorn  harbors  with  fleets,  cities  with  elegance,  a  populous  land 
with  plenty;  see  them  build  the  emporium  to  receive  and  distri 
bute  to  Europe  the  trade  of  Asia,  fill  libraries,  fill  galleries, 
belt  the  earth  with  colonies,  lead  the  agitation  for  civil  and  re 
ligious  liberty;  making  of  the  drain  a  statesman,  of  the  dyke  a 
hero,  like  an  incantation  of  enchantment  wrench  from  the  sea 
the  soil  for  a  mighty  people.  If  one  \vere  to  ask,  "  But  can  this 
rope  of  sand"  (as  it  is  fashionable  to  call  a  federation),  "maintain 
itself,  can  it  fight?"  it  were  enough  to  answer:  The  Spaniard, 
rallying  in  the  rocky  Asturias,  by  the  brave,  firm  patience  of 
eight  centuries,  had  collected  the  strength  to  hurl  the  invader 
from  his  shore.  Inch  by  inch  he  had  fought  his  way  from  the 


1 82  •         MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Pyrenees  to  the  Mediterranean,  to  find,  as  is  wont  to  happen  to 
such  absolute  success,  he  had  vanquished  the  fear  without  to  try 
conclusions  with  a  more  subtle  foe  within.  There  came  a  day 
when  Columbus  gave  a  new  world  to  Castile  and  Leon,  and  con 
quest  and  marriage  supremacy  in  the  old  to  the  sovereign  of 
Spain ;  when  Cortez  could  say  to  Charles  V,  "  I  am  the  man  who 
has  gained  you  more  provinces  than  your  father  left  you  towns"; 
but  it  was  a  day  wherein  the  virtue  of  Spain  had  been  exchanged 
for  her  empire.  This  Spaniard,. as  Philip  II,  as  the  head  of  cen 
tralized  tyranny,  with  the  invincible  chivalry  of  Spain  at  his 
back,  launched  a  world  against  the  League  of  Seven.  The  King 
of  Spain  and  the  Indies,  the  dominator  in  Europe,  Africa  and 
America — Pharaoh  and  his  hosts — went  down.  The  rope  of 
sand  the  League  of  Seven  passed  over,  and  shines  to  us  from 
afar  like  another  Pleiad — a  beacon  in  the  heaven. 

Indeed,  when  once  we  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  which, 
unless  our  premises  are  wholly  sans  cullottic,  we  must  arrive  at, 
that  robberies,  violences,  murders,  wrongs  and  injustices  are  to 
be  resisted,  if  possible  exterminated;  that  property,  liberty,  life, 
right  and  justice  are  to  be  established  for  the  sake  of  each  and 
all;  that  when  the  injured  petition  there  should  be  both  the  will 
and  the  power  to  redress;  since  there  is  a  limit  both  to  human 
wisdom  and  to  human  power,  it  is  no  very  abstruse  metaphysics 
to  suggest  that  the  limit  be  not  exceeded;  that  the  law  ward  of 
the  state  be  competent  to  his  jurisdiction.  When  to  an  old  wo 
man,  who  complained  that  her  husband  had  been  killed  by  rob 
bers,  the  Sultan  Mahmud  regretted  the  impossibility  of  keeping 
order  in  so  distant  a  part  of  his  dominions,  the  reply  was,  "Then 
why  do  you  take  kingdoms  which  you  cannot  govern?"  Rulers 
at  a  distance,  who  cannot  judge  for  us,  should  not  act  for  us. 
Rightly  to  manage  what  lies  about  him  and  within  his  perview 
is  enough  to  lay  on  any  ruler. 

The  Romans  had  a  word  for  the  government  which  has  the 
public  good  for  its  object — it  is  our  word  republic,  community 
government,  a  people's  transaction  of  their  own  affairs,  as  it  were, 
the  every  fact  of  a  community  realized  in  the  administration  of 
its  government — a  common  weal.  But  another  definition  of  a 
republic  might  be  that  arrangement  of  society  which  most  tends 
to  put  the  best  citizen  at  the  helm.  "  You  see  that  Childebert  is 
•a  man,  obey  him,"  is  the  first  and  the  last  philosophy  of  empire. 
Far  as  Thor  can  hurl  his  hammer  in  his  realm.  Feudal  systems 
grow  upon  this  basis — that  the  strongest  shall  rule  as  far  as  his 
honest  strength  prevails.  Roman  discipline  conquers  the  world, 
because  with  it  travel  laws  and  government  for  the  world, 
amongst  them  the  preservation  of  local  law.  "  They  held  with 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  183 

the  plow  what  they  gained  by  the  sword."  Norman  conquests 
says:  "I  am  stronger  than  you;  I  know  how  to  conquer  others, 
.first  having  learned  to  conquer  myself;  proclaim  me,  therefore, 
king  over  you  in  name,  since  I  am  king  over  you  in  fact." 
Long-haired  Merovingian  Donothings  are  nominal  kings,  power 
less  to  redress  wrongs,  to  repulse  Saracens,  who,  sweeping  over 
Spain,  have  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  I7 ranee.  Charles  Martel 
and  Pepin,  mayors  of  the  palace,  are  the  real  kings,  and  Pope 
Zacharias  gave  the  decision  which  nature  had  already  given,  that 
he  who  possessed  the  power  should  bear  the  title  of  king. 
Merovingian  Donothings  arc  relegated  to  the  religious  houses, 
where  doing  nothing  is  decorous,  and  relieved  of  the  throne, 
where  it  is  not  so.  At  different  times,  in  different  ways,  society 
passes  its  statute  of  uses,  which  transfers  the  legal  title  to  the 
use,  declares  he  who  governs  the  estate  is  its  master. 

"A  fine  liberty  this,"  said  the  Cobbler,  "which  leaves  me  cob 
bling  shoes  as  it  found  me";  but  freedom  has  other  definitions 
than  "forty  acres  and  a  mule."  The  French  Terrorists,  who,  in 
some  sense,  laid  the  axe  unto  the  root  of  the  tree,  cannot  be  held 
to  have  gone  to  the  root  of  the  whole  matter,  when  they  ex 
claimed:  "What!  is  this  our  liberty?  Can  we  no  longer  kill 
whom  we  please?"  Liberty,  like  the  glorious  element  of  the 
suns,  has  its  tabernacle  in  the  highest.  It  is  no  easy  leap  to 
pluck  its  bright  honor  thence,  whatever  Hotspur  may  think. 
But  to  dive  into  the  bottom  of  the  deep  for  it,  as  I  lotspur  would, 
is  plainly  unwise.  It  is  not  the  sun  we  fish  for  in  the  pool  at  our 
feet — not  even  a  drowned  sun — but  a  counterfeit  drowned  sun. 
Libert}'  is  not  to  be  looked  for  in  the  mire — it  is  to  be  climbed 
for  in  the  stars. 

The  apology  for  despotism  is,  that  to  get  the  ablest  and  wisest 
to  the  front,  it  must  be  accomplished  by  force.  To  have  the 
same  thing  from  preference  is  to  have  a  republic,  which  thus 
clothes  itself  in  a  human  shape.  Freedom  is  the  free  dominion 
of  the  law.  A  republic  also  is  the  sway  of  the  strongest,  but  of 
the  strongest  in  truth ;  the  strongest  raised  to  supremacy  on  the 
shield  of  faithful  followers,  not  the  strongest  tottering  on  the 
subservience  of  mercenary  bayonets;  the  strongest  planting  his 
spear  in  the  field  for  all  who  love  it  to  kiss,  and  saying,  behold 
my  banner  and  my  pledge;  the  strongest  standing  in  the  fore 
front  of  the  state,  because  the  moral  power  of  society  is  in  his 
hands;  not  the  strongest  by  an  arithmetic  which,  like  the  pro 
posed  new  currency,  is  referred  to  a  double  standard.  I  low  a 
man  of  real  strength  can  walk  upon  the  waves  of  human  pas 
sion,  and  to  a  people  rightfully  infuriated  and  goaded  to  clespe- 
-rarion,  say,  "be  still!"  for  them  make  his  quiet  word  law — nay 


184  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

more,  make  it  gospel !  how  such  a  man  can  walk  erect  in  the 
flame  of  persecution,  and  firm  amid  the  roar  of  ruin,  we  all  saw 
last  winter.  When  a  party  of  human  rights  sent  forth  the  edict, 
"Let  every  man  worthy  of  freedom  forthwith  be  deprived  of  it"; 
and  a  party  of  moral  ideas  had  made  of  forgery  "  clerical  error," 
and  of  perjury  a  facon  de  parler,  in  a  victim  state,  it  was  pos 
sible  for  such  a  man  to  be.  "  He  is  the  anointed  of  God,"  says 
Carlyle,  "who  melts  all  wills  into  his  own, and  hurls  them  as  one 
thunderbolt."  Even  more,  then,  when  the  crisis  calls,  he  who 
folds  them  in  one  bosom  and  does  not  hurl.  How  does  a  Wade 
Hampton  make  himself  master  of  the  situation,  and  exhort  re 
luctant  homage  from  the  adversaries  of  his  State?  By  strata 
gem?  No,  by  character.  By  being  a  demagogue?  No,  by 
being  a  hero.  Because  his  people  hated  and  feared  him?  No, 
but  because  they  loved  and  honored  they  obeyed  him.  Always 
and  everywhere,  the  power  which  is  truly  a  master  is  the  power 
which  is  truly  a  blessing. 

A  republic,  like  all  noble  things,  has  a  basis  of  reality.  It  is 
"the  powers  that  be."  It  is  already  anarchy  when  it  is  only  the 
powers  that  seem.  It  is  the  authority  of  justice  over  iniquity, 
of  greatness  over  baseness,  of  freedom  over  servility.  The  only 
valid  representation  of  society  is  the  sincere  expression  of  its 
powers.  When  a  community,  by  voluntary  act,  selects  its  best 
elements  to  rule  the  worst,  its  wisest  to  lead  the  weakest,  the 
community  is  free,  as  any  individual  is  who  submits  his  will  to 
his  reason.  The  best  government  which  is  possible,  then,  rests 
on  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

The  North  and  South  have  wrestled  in  more  than  one  great 
debate,  which  should  not  be  omitted  in  any  proper  account  of 
the  causes  of  the  war,  and  our  convictions  touching  them,  but 
which  can  only  be  adverted  to  here.  "  Bank  of  the  United 
States,"  "tariff,"  "internal  improvements,"  "American  system" — 
these  are  names  for  the  decisive  points  in  the  battlefield  of  opin 
ion,  where  the  constitution  was  at  stake.  The  power  and  the 
poison  of  great  national  corporations,  the  ruinous  fallacy  of  a 
lobby  court,  all  the  shamelessness,  all  the  odiousness  of  class 
government  was  the  issue,  with  what  results  we  all  know.  The 
victors,  fighting  with  more  carnal  weapons,  it  may  be,  were  wiser 
in  their  generation. 

It  was  part  and  parcel  of  our  doctrine  to  oppose  the  conces 
sion  of  vast  powers  where  there  was  no  common  interest.  To 
say,  "  In  this  way  shall  you  appropriate  your  means,  not  as  you 
wish  and  your  interests  call  for,  but  as  we,  far  away  and  dif 
ferent  from  you,  require,"  is  not  government  which  rests  on 
the  consent  of  the  governed,  but  fraud  and  spoliation  in  the 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  ,        185 

teeth  of  their  protest.  "It  is  from  local  leaving  alone,"  says 
Victor  Hugo,  "that  English  liberty  took  its  rise."  This  was  our 
general  tone,  though  neither  so  invariable  nor  so  unanimous  as 
could  be  desired.  "You  have  no  right,"  we  said,  "to  force  us  to 
purchase  from  you  at  double  and  triple  prices;  to  legislate  your 
wares  into  our  homes,  and  our  purses  into  your  pockets.  It  is 
idle  to  say  you  do  not  compel  us  to  buy  in  one  place,  when  you 
prohibit  us  from  buying  in  any  other."  Protection  said:  "Sell 
to  us  in  a  cheap  market,  buy  from  us  in  a  dear  one.  You,  the 
millions,  who  now  buy  iron  from  abroad,  agree  that  the  price  of 
this  be  raised  to  such  a  point  as  will  justify  the  employment  of 
labor  at  American  prices,  and  still  leave  abundant  supplies  for 
profits;  you,  the  millions,  incur  this  enormous  addition  to  your 
expense,  that  we,  the  dozens,  may  reap  it  in  our  profits.  We 
will  pay  the  wages  of  our  labor  out  of  the  industry  of  yours ; 
you  to  do  the  work,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  employ  the 
labor,  we  to  pocket  the  proceeds."  This  species  of  whole-souled 
patriotism  has  of  late  been  exhibited,  with  something  of  the 
deforming  power  of  an  approximating  class,  by  the  concentra 
tion  of  the  system  within  the  limits  of  single  cities.  The  ring 
master  says:  "Be  patriotic;  freely  cast  your  portion  into  the 
public  treasury,  that  I  may  take  it  out." 

In  the  interest  of  prosperity,  in  the  interest  of  tranquility, 
what  measure  could  be  falser  than  the  creation  of  a  great  cen 
tral  vortex,  drawing  everything  into  its  eddy?  Has  not  this 
become  the  very  marrow  of  a  struggle  for  very  life — more  and 
more  rage  of  opposites  over  a  prize  of  contest  ever  growing  in 
dimensions,  until  now,  when  to  grasp  it  is  to  wield  the  power  of 
the  Czar,  and  to  la}'  it  down,  is,  in  the  language  of  Dean  Stanley, 
"to  lay  down  a  sceptre"  and  bean  "ex-sovereign"?  Our  sys 
tem  elevated  an  inferior  race — this  has  degraded  an  equal  one. 

Then  there  is  the  question  of  African  slavery. 

Self-government,  the  reduction  by  ourselves  of  our  own  unru- 
liness  to  order,  is  far  the  greatest  miracle  a  moral  nature  can 
exhibit.  It  never  has  been  and  is  not  now  a  quite  universal  trait, 
but  has  been,  and  seems  destined  for  some  time  to  remain,  the 
grandeur  of  an  immortal  few.  The  few  are  our  real  rulers. 
Robespierre,  incorruptible  charlatan  that  he  was — an  anomaly  in 
mountebank  breed — was  able  to  see  and  to  say,  "  La  vertu  fut 
toujours  en  minority  sur  la  terre."  The  free  are  the  feu*.  They 
are,  as  Cowper  says,  "  Whom  the  truth  makes  free."  Better  for 
Cowper's  peace  of  mind  had  he  seen  the  correlative  of  this, 
which  Goethe  supplies  us  with:  "None  are  so  grossly  enslaved 
as  they  who  falsely  believe  themselves  free."  The  chosen  feu- 
make  the  chosen  people. 
13 


1 86  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

It  was  our  belief  that  we  had  a  population  within  our  borders 
which  was  not  capable  of  self-government;  which  was  dependent 
upon  the  control  and  dominion  of  others.  It  is  a  solecism  to  say 
that  a  savage  can  be  free.  You  can  emancipate  him  from  the 
hand  of  a  superior,  but  in  doing  so  you  hand  him  over  to.  his 
own  vices  and  incoherences;  you  " grave  the  name  of  freedom 
on  a  heavier  chain." 

Could  thirteenth  and  fifteenth  amendments,  by  the  stroke  of  a 
pen,  translate  slavery  into  freedom  and  self-government,  all  men 
must  rejoice.  Great  things  are  not  wont  to  be  done  with  this 
degree  of  ease,  especially  this  thing.  Freedom,  like  other  forms 
of  greatness,  first  takes  on  itself  the  form  of  a  servant.  The 
transition  from  slavery  to  freedom  is  precisely  that  transition  the 
most  civilized  must  pass  through,  with  repeated  failure  and  re 
peated  pain,  when  he  ceases  to  be  the  slave  of  appearance  and 
becomes  master  of  himself;  performs  that  highest  of  moral  acts 
— his  own  self-government.  Such  transition,  unspeakably  im 
portant  as  it  is,  in  the  deepest  and  truest  sense  inestimable,  is  a 
question  rather  of  authentic  fact  than  of  any  legislation.  Legis 
lation  does  not  yet  create.  Legislation  properly  represents. 
We  have  now,  it  is  said,  an  emancipated  country.  But  how? 
From  fraud,  from  rings,  from  well-nigh  universal  perjury  and 
peculation — from  these  are  we  emancipated?  If  the  auction  of 
slaves  is  bad,  is  not  the  sale  of  freemen  worse? 

Through  the  streets  of  the  Federal  metropolis  daily  passes  a 
black  cloud  of  human  beings,  handcuffed  and  guarded  (of  late 
years  caged  and  driven),  despair,  or  sometimes  stolid,  even  care 
less  indifference,  on  their  faces.  These  are  emancipated  slaves  on 
their  way  from  the  police  court  to  the  jail — disenthralled  from  the 
cuffs  of  the  overseer  to  be  enthralled  in  the  handcuffs  of  the  law. 
Cuffee  still!  Misguided!  Alas!  They  who  so  need  guidance 
told  to  guide  themselves  through  a  wild  welter  of  crime  and  vice; 
in  the  infirmity  of  idleness  and  want  told  to  steer 'themselves  by 
their  own  ignorance.  At  last  the  emancipated  goes  to  the  magis 
trate,  with  more  or  less  directness,  saying:  "Have  me  arrested 
in  this,  for  me,  impossible  task  of  self-government.  Suffer  me 
to  retire  from  a  world  I  am  unable  to  master,  but  which  so  inva 
riably  masters  me,  to  the  religious  retreat  of  criminal  classes, 
known  as  penitentiary,  that  I,  who  know  not  self-control,  there, 
at  least,  may  be  controlled,  be  mastered — in  that  'divine  institu 
tion'  seek  repentance  carefully,  with  tears."  The  negro  is  not 
called  upon  to  survive  in  the  South  the  hostility  dealt  out  to  the 
Mongolian  in  San  Francisco,  by  the  "Thousand  and  one,"  backed 
by  the  whole  power  of  the  State  and  United  States  Governments, 
in  scorn  of  treaty.  Were  this  the  case,  it  might  be  asked:  "Is 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  l8/ 

it  so  kind,  then,  to  throw  a  weak  race  in  competitive,  and  there 
fore  inimical,  relations  with  a  strong  one?"  But  the  negro  is 
called  on  to  be  fit  to  survive  his  own  inherent  infirmities,  and 
finds  this  no  easy  matter;  wherefore  the  New  York  Times  asks: 
"Are  the  negroes  going  the  way  of  the  Indian?  Are  they  being 
civilized  off  the  face  of  the  earth?" 

John  Randolph  once  saw  a  lady  making  shirts  for  the  Greeks. 
"Madam,"  said  Randolph,  "the  Greeks  are  at  your  doors." 
People  who  are  not  content  unless  they  are  reforming  abuses, 
might  often  live  at  home  and  still  be  content.  Our  Roanoke 
statesman  is  the  honored  type  of  the  Virginia  emancipationist  — 
the  Washington-Jefferson  type — which  it  may  be  the  future  will 
yet  hold  a  wiser  and  a  braver  one,  than  the  more  vociferous  and 
apostrophised  kind. 

The  spectacle  of  wrong  and  wretchedness,  the  cruelty  of  nar 
row  minds  and  narrow  hearts  all  the  world  over,  is  sad  beyond 
expression.  Think  of  the  devoted  Pole,  taking  his  everlasting 
farewell  of  his  home,  and  sent  by  the  cruelest  of  task-masters  to 
rot  under  the  lash  in  the  torture-press  and  poison-press  of  Sibe 
rian  quicksilver  mines.  Think  of  the  starving  millions  in  the 
East.  Nothing  could  wclfbe  sader.  But  the  most  sorrowful  to 
each  should  be  the  struggle  of  inadequate  natures  with  imperi 
ous  circumstance  at  his  own  door.  Think  of  forty  thousand 
vagrant  children  in  the  city  of  New  York,  destined,  the  most  of 
them,  to  be  thieves  and  prostitutes  before  the  age  of  twelve. 
Think  of  the  tenement  house  misery  in  the  same  city,  which  no 
crusading  fanatics  have  moved  heaven  and  earth  to  assuage. 
Think  of  that  house,  No.  98  North  street,  a  small  one,  too,  which 
was  discovered  by  the  police  to  contain  ninety-nine  families,  or 
near  five  hundred  people.  The  surplus  sympathies  of  "the  over- 
soul  "  can  find  an  inexhaustible  field  in  the  life  of  every  street 
railway  car-driver.  In  1226  the  titular  bishop  of  Prussia  wrote: 
"What  is  the  use  of  crusading  far  off  in  the  East,  when  heathen 
ism  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan  hangs  on  our  own  borders,  close 
at  hand  in  the  North?"  A  sermon  on  the  duty  of  staying  at 
home — that  is,  of  attending  to  one's  nearest  business,  and  as  the 
very  nearest,  the  circle  of  one's  own  breast — might  be  derived 
from  many  lives,  which  had  been  useful  had  they  not  early  lost 
all  hope  of  the  universe,  save  by  their  own  undivided  attention 
thereto.  The  dark  flood  of  human  misery  swells  around  the 
bannered  barge  of  the  fortunate,  whose  oars  it  propels  while  re 
ceiving  their  stroke.  Sacred  forever  are  the  chosen  few  who 
have  lifted  the  burdens  from  the  shoulders  of  the  weak  by  placing 
them  on  their  own;  who,  in  this  way,  have  borne  in  their  own 
persons  the  transgressions  of  others;  who  once  crucified,  are  now 


1 88  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

ascended!  Here  on  earth  they  were  filled  with  warm,  manly- 
poignancy,  with  soft,  feminine  pity  for  the  bent  forms  of  poverty 
and  pain,  the  sad  faces  of  the  ineffectual,  the  lives  of  the  broken 
and  disconsolate,  and  those  wretched  existences  which  are  cra 
dled  in  despair,  and  suckled,  one  may  say,  on  vice  and  disease, 
whose  penalty  they  strove  to  mitigate.  Surely  they  receive  the 
mercy  they  showed. 

Pursue  the  evils  which  lie  at  your  own  doors — fearlessly  strike 
at  them.  Few  are  so  unprovided  but  that  they,  too,  may  cast  in 
their  mite  to  the  relief  of  sorrow  and  oppression.  But  see  to  it 
that  the  strife  and  the  succor  be  not  for  appearance  only,  and  end 
not  in  substituting  the  nominal  for  the  actual.  The  philanthropy 
which  has  aggrandized  itself  in  the  decay  and  by  the  decay  of 
the  honor  and  conscience  of  the  country,  the  philanthropy  of 
Freedman's  Banks  and  other  such,  is  "suspect  to  me."  Results 
have  followed  which  are  wont  to  happen,  when  sentimenal  self- 
display  mimics  the  great  passions. 

It  is  no  true  boon  when  an  external  power  abruptly  transforms 
the  whole  outward  circumstance,  leaving  the  tenant  of  a  feebler 
sphere  to  grapple  with  the  aggregate  of  forces  in  a  larger  one,  to 
which  he  stands  in  perpetual  contradiction  and  disparity.  The 
privilege  of  self-government  to  the  inadequate,  deficient — is  that 
such  a  boon?  To  give  the  blind  man  a  rifle  and  tell  him  to  hunt 
with  the  hunters  for  a  living!  To  unyoke  the  dray-horse  and 
bid  him  God-speed  in  winning  the  race  from  the  swift! 

In  this  wise  we  reasoned  in  the  years  before  the  war  upon 
premises  which  were  none  of  our  choosing,  but  were  forced  upon 
us  by  Old  England  first  and  New  Fngland  afterwards.  Twenty- 
three  statutes  were  passed  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Vir 
ginia  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  slaves,  and  all  were  nega 
tived  by  the  British  king.  It  was  well  said  on  the  floor  of  the 
Virginia  Legislature,  by  John  Thompson  Brown,  in  answer  to 
English  invective:  "They  sold  us  these  slaves — they  assumed  a 
vendor's  responsibility — and  it  is  not  for  them  to  question  the 
validity  of  our  title."  Virginia  was  the  first  State  not  only  to 
prohibit  the  slave  trade,  but  to  make  it  punishable  with  death. 
From  her  came  the  chief  opposition  to  the  slave  trade  in  the 
convention  of  1/87.  That  trade  was  continued  for  twenty  addi 
tional  years — not  by  the  vote  of  a  "solid  South,"  but  a  solid  New 
England.  To  New  England,  too,  we  might  say:  "You  very 
obligingly  sold  us  your  slaves;  voted  like  one  man  to  keep  open 
the  slave  trade;  availed  yourselves  fully  of  all  the  prizes  of 
that  piracy.  We  bought  your  merchandise;  you  pocketed  our 
money."  How  much  of  the  elegant  leisure  to  vituperate  the 
South  has  been  fed  by  inheritance  of  wealth  derived  from  the 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  189 

traffic  in  human  flesh  which  supplied  the  South!  The  slave- 
traders  of  the  North  said  to  the  slaveholders  of  the  South: 
"You  must  not  interfere  with  our  business  for  twenty  years" ; 
and  on  this  the  slave-traders  outvoted  the  slaveholders.  Then, 
when  their  slave  contract  had  expired,  the  traders  said:  "Our 
conscience  revolts  against  suffering  you  to  profit  by  the  merchan 
dise  we  sold,  though  it  does  not  in  the  least  revolt  against  retain 
ing  the  money  you  gave.  It  is  our  duty  to  see  that  the  conside 
ration  do  not  pass  to  you,  but  by  no  means  our  duty  to  relinquish 
that  which  has  passed  to  us,  nor  to  compensate  you  for  the  in 
jury  of  which  we  are  the  cause."  In  this  transaction  my  eyes 
refuse  to  see  the  superior  morals  of  the  slave-traders. 

A  writer  in  the  October  number  of  the  Atlantic  Afont/ily,  for 
1868,  dealing  with  the  post-bellum  aspect  of  the  negro — one  of 
the  agents,  too,  of  reconstruction  (or,  as  it  might  be  better  called, 
of  deconstruction) — has  this  conclusion:  "In  short,  the  higher 
civilization  of  the  Caucassian  is  gripping  the  race  in  many  ways, 
and  bringing  it  to  sharp  trial  before  its  time.  This  new,  varied, 
costly  life  of  freedom — this  struggle  to  be  at  once  like  a  race 
which  has  passed  through  a  two  thousand  years'  growth  in  civ 
ilization — will  unquestionably  diminish  the  productiveness  of  the 
negro,  and  will  terribly  test  his  vitality.  It  is  doubtless  well  for 
his  chances  of  existence  that  his  color  keeps  him  a  plebeian. 
What  judgment,  then,  shall  we  pass  upon  abrupt  eman 
cipation  merely  with  reference  to  the  negro?  It  is  a  mighty 
experiment,  fraught  with  as  much  menace  as  hope.  To  the 
white  race  alone  it  is  a  certain  and  precious  boon."  And,  now, 
can  such  a  perhaps  as  this,  "fraught  with  as  much  menace  as 
hope"  to  the  black  man  in  the  South,  vindicate  the  decimation 
and  desolation  of  the  white  man? 

We  had  a  system  of  society  and  subordination  unencumbered 
by  either  criminal  or  pauper  class,  except  in  so  far  as  "the  sum 
of  all  villianies"  made  the  sum  total  of  society  liable  to  indict 
ment — a  society  exempt  from  strikes,  exempt  from  tramps,  ex 
empt  from  the  dissension  of  capital  and  labor,  which,  by  a  dis 
cipline  milder,  certainly,  than  the  jail  and  calls  on  the  President 
for  troops,  made  the  inferior  element  of  society  orderly,  tempe 
rate,  obedient,  secure  from  want,  and,  with  little  exception,  secure 
from  crime;  so  contented  withal,  that  in  the  midst  of  the  death- 
grapple  of  the  hands  that  held  the  reins,  nothing  could  tempt  it 
to  insurrection.  Rings  and  their  subsidized  voices,  tramps  and 
the  tramps'  gospel,  grew  and  were  fertilized  elsewhere.  We  did 
not  by  legislative  act  seek  to  make  negroes  free.  We  did  better: 
we  kept  them  from  being  criminals.  Did  the  South  lag  behind 
in  the  race  of  progress?  The  philanthropist  is  the  last  man  who 


MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

should  make  this  a  reproach.  It  was  lifting  the  black  man  up 
which  pulled  the  white  man  back.  The  negro  did  not  carry  us, 
but  we  set  him  upon  his  legs.  A  few  months  ago  the  telegraph 
flashed  over  the  land  the  news  that  Adam  Johnson,  sentenced  to 
be  hung  for  murder  in  South  Carolina,  "insisted  upon  the  son  of 
his  old  master  during  slavery  standing  by  him  to  the  last."  In 
the  wide  world  he  could  turn  him  to  no  other  in  that  hour. 
Abolitionists  and  their  civilization  of  scalawags  and  carpet 
baggers  had  brought  him  to  this — the  freedom  to  be  hung  for 
murder! 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  sentimentalism  in  politics  was  less  con 
tagious  at  the  South  than  in  some  other  quarters;  that  what  is 
known  and  honored  as  philanthropy  struck  us  as  a  platform  vir 
tue  of  the  mutual-admiration  kind;  as  such  not  greatly  honora 
ble,  nor  by  us  honored.  At  no  time  did  the  sentiment  of  Ana- 
charsis  Clootz,  that  "the  principles  of  democracy  are  of  such 
priceless  value  as  to  be  cheaply  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
whole  human  race,"  cause  a  quite  universal  enthusiasm.  Liberty 
which  was  rhetorical  merely  was  not  our  forte.  We  did  not  be 
lieve  in  a  nominal  republic,  which  would  require  large  standing 
armies  to  show  free  citizens  the  way  to  freedom.  Liberty  is  in 
a  curious  way  which  demands  a  large  standing  army  to  drive  it 
home  and  make  it  rest  on  the  consent  of  the  governed.  A  bay 
onet  is  not  such  a  good  thing  to  set  down  on,  that  freedom  should 
choose  such  a  roost,  or  be  set  down  very  hard  there,  without 
sensible  annoyance. 

Whether  to  make  of  the  inferior  element  a  bond  slave  was  the 
absolutely  best  way,  is  a  question  which  may  now  be  safely  left 
to  determine  itself  by  the  result  of  a  contrary  policy.  But  that 
to  do  as  our  enemy  did,  make  of  the  inferior  element  a  master,  is 
the  absolutely  worst  way,  may,  without  presumption,  be  asserted 
now  and  here.  If  the  Southern  master  had  a  slave,  he  had  a  slave 
whom  he  protected.  If  the  Southern  slave  had  a  master,  he  had 
a  master  whom  he  respected.  Moralists  hereafter  will  be  sorely 
put  to  it  to  account  for  the  well-nigh  total  absence  of  revenge, 
malevolence,  animosity,  on  the  part  of  the  negro  toward  his  old 
master,  if  his  past  was  so  invariably  bitter.  Either  his  forgive 
ness  of  injuries  is  the  greatest  ever  known,  or  his  sense  of  them 
the  least.  Let  it  be  said,  in  his  unqualified  praise,  that  of  all  the 
races,  the  negro  has  made  the  best  slave,  has  been  faithful  in  that 
which  is  least;  a  better  part,  certainly,  than  that  of  being  faithless 
in  that  which  is  greatest — an  accusation  wrhich  may  yet  be 
brought  against  the  white  race  of  the  country.  There  is  hope 
for  the  negro  to-day  greater  than  any  which  exists  for  the  Indian, 
because  the  negro  is  docile,  willing  to  serve  and  obey,  and,  un- 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  IQI 

like  the  Indian,  could  be  made  a  slave  of,  and  be  controlled  by 
others  before  being  able  to  control  himself;  because  he  has  by 
nature  the  faculty  of  truly  revering  that  which  is  higher  than 
himself;  is  not,  in  self-devouring  pride,  recusant  to  it.  If  now, 
in  freedom,  he  be  persevering,  diligent,  as  in  slavery  he  was  do 
cile,  tractable!  His  slavery!  Has  not  that  and  nothing  else 
lifted  him  from  the  condition  of  African  savage  to  that  of  Ameri 
can  freeman,  worthy  by  our  law  to  cast  his  ballot  with  the  rest, 
which  the  Chinese,  who  is  not,  and  since  recorded  time  has  not 
been  a  savage,  is  not  worthy  to  do?  The  negro  is  to-day  an 
American  citizen,  started  in  the  race  of  civilization  by  virtue  of 
what,  pray?  His  thousands  of  years  of  African  freedom,  as 
some  may  term  them,  or  his  two  hundred  years  of  American 
bondage  ? 

African  liberty!  What  is  it  to  deprive  a  man  of  that?  The 
latest  intelligence  on  the  subject  is  that  another  step  toward  the 
civilization  of  Africa  has  been  taken  by  England  in  inducing  the 
King  of  Leucalia,  a  district  lying  to  the  southeast  of  St.  Paul  de 
Loanda,  to  .enter  into  an  engagement  to  put  a  stop  to  all  human 
sacrifices  among  his  people.  Suppose,  then,  that  human  beings 
wrho  otherwise  are  given  over  to  the  immolation  and  consump 
tion  of  one  another,  in  this  kind  of  honor  preferring  one  another, 
are  made  bond  slaves,  halted  in  their  religious  and  political 
economy,  and  made  to  cease  to  be  their  brothers'  keepers  in  this 
culinary  way,  and  actually  to  begin  to  be  useful  to  themselves 
and  others,  what  great  rights  of  man  are  the  worse  for  it?  No 
ble,  not  ignoble,  is  the  dominion  of  the  higher  over  the  lower; 
beautiful  the  surrender  of  the  lower  to  the  higher,  when,  with 
pleased  recognition  of  the  truth,  a  soul  bows  in  the  presence  of 
its  master.  Hard,  indeed,  must  be  the  heart  to  resist  the  elo 
quence  which  says,  "Behold!  behold!  I  am  thy  servant."  Sub 
ordination  of  inferior  to  superior  is  the  supreme  social  act;  all 
else  is  struggle,  contention  for  society. 

It  is  one  of  the  anomalies  of  this  great  controversy  between 
opposing  ideas  and  institutions  that,  after  the  North  had  pro 
claimed  the  necessity  of  amending  the  constitution  to  prevent 
social  discrimination  against  the  negro  in  the  South,  it  was  re 
served  for  a  hotel  of  the  State,  and  a  bar  association  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  to  say  to  the  race  of  Spinoza,  Neander,  of  Heine 
and  Meyerbeer,  of  Disraeli  and  Rothschild :  "  Come  not  near 
me,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou." 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


III. 

I  must,  however,  ask  you  to  assume,  what  is  far  enough  from 
being  the  case,  that  these  several  differences  of  opinion  and 
causes  of  dispute  between  the  North  and  South  have  now  been 
treated  of  in  some  not  wholly  disreputable  manner;  and  that,  to 
a  Southern  audience  at  least  (and  this  is  more  probable),  it  has 
been  made  sufficiently  clear  that  justice  was  on  the  side  of  the 
South  in  this  great  controversy.  I  pass-  on  to  say  that  justice, 
too,  must  be  strong.  To  be  weak  when  you  have  the  power 
to  be  strong,  is  itself  an  injustice.  It  is  written,  "Woe  to  them 
that  are  at  ease  in  Zion."  You  who  otherwise  have  right  on 
your  side  must  see  to  it  that  you  have  strength  on  your  side, 
else  he  whose  iron  is  stronger  than  your  gold,  whose  unscrupu 
lous  force  outweighs  your  legal  right,  will  have  judgment  entered 
against  you.  To  be  entrenched  in  parchment  to  the  teeth  is  not 
the  whole  of  law;  only  a  vantage  ground  for  more  readily  assert 
ing  it.  Without  prudence,  without  wakeful  alertness,  firm,  even 
fierce  assertion,  the  mere  parchment  right  is  but  a  castle  without 
defenders.  The  great  wall  of  China  seems  secure  enough,  run 
ning  thirteen  hundred  miles  over  plain  and  over  mountain;  every 
foot  of  the  foundation  in  solid  granite,  the  structure  solid  ma 
sonry.  But  without  a  living  wall  of  Chinese  men  behind  it,  un 
constitutional  Tartars  bound  over  its  "strict  construction"  as  a 
thing  of  course.  "Your  strict  construction  is  ultra  vires,"  they 
paradoxically  say.  It  is  not  in  the  letter  of  a  constitution,  it  is 
in  the  heart  of  a  people  that  freedom  is  secured,  if  at  all.  The 
law  protects  not  them  who  sleep  upon  their  rights.  Make  your 
self  strong,  soon  your  right  becomes  clear.  Every  man  holds  his 
own  by  this  tenure.  Sleepless  enemies  lie  in  wait  for  all  prowess, 
for  all  endowment,  and  are  held  in  check  by  incessant  labor,  in 
cessant  vigil.  A  chosen  people  are  surrounded  by  Philistines, 
and  must  subdue  them  or  be  subdued. 

It  is  not  heaven's  will  that  men  should  meet  together,  and 
make  a  constitution  and  laws,  which  may  dispense  with  vigilance 
and  self-vindication.  No  charter  of  freedom  can  exonerate  from 
this.  An  outrageous  act  impends.  Men  are  heard  to  ask:  "Is 
it  credible  our  opponents  will  be  such  knaves?  Will  they  have 
the  audacity  to  commit  an  act  of  such  turpitude,  such  shameless 
subornation?"  Why,  if  you  have  not  the  audacity  to  defend,  of 
course  they  will.  The  knave  is  in  the  world  primarily  for  this 
purpose:  to  cut  the  tendons  of  the  paltering  when  he  beats  a 
parley.  The  knave  is  the  abler  man.  He  has  the  audacity  to 
stand  up  with  the  right  all  against  him,  while  the  other,  with  the 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  1 93, 

panoply  of  truth  upon  him,  docs  not  stand  up.  The  latter  says, 
in  effect:  "My  moral  strength  is  weaker  than  your  immoral  effi 
cacy."  When  one  set  of  men  have  scruples  about  doing  duty, 
and  another  set  have  no  scruples  about  violating  it,  the  debate  is 
practically  ended.  You  cannot  tie  red  tape  around  the  rights  of 
a  people,  pigeon-hole  them,  and  then,  by  merely  telling  the  sec 
retary  to  produce  them  at  the  proper  moment,  and  show  that 
they  are  labeled  as  you  say,  have  every  knee  to  bow  instanter. 
Rights  done  up  in  red  tape  do  not  amount  to  much.  By  tying 
yourselves  around  them,  and  them  around  yourselves;  by  omit 
ting,  wholly  interdicting  self-indulgent  welcome  to  the  foe,  saying 
to  snare  and  illusion,  "get  thee  behind  me";  by  planting  your 
selves  manfully  in  front  of  your  rights,  resolutely  and  vigilantly 
staying  there,  your  rights  become  available  in  time  of  need.  One 
of  Mahomet's  companions  said:  "I  will  unloose  my  camel  and 
commit  him  to  Providence."  "Friend,"  said  Mahomet,  "tie  thy 
camel  and  commit  him  to  Providence." 

Once,  when  fertile  plains  of  Italy  lay  exposed  to  the  hardy 
North,  doughty  protectionists,  bearing  their  birth-rights  on  their 
backs,  by  dint  of  the  sword  for  circulating  medium,  entered  into 
and  enjoyed  the  opulence  which  left  itself  defenceless.  See  how 
manners  change,  while  the  forces  under  them  remain  unchanged!. 
Behold  another  stubborn  remnant,  planted  on  a  frozen  soil,  and 
far-off  harvests  and  fields  of  snow;  not  cold,  but  warm;  at  slight 
est  touch  turning  to  gold.  Kings  of  the  Huns  are  not  wanting, 
though  differently  accoutred.  Their  weapons  are  shrewdness, 
business  ability,  docility  to  be  taught  by  experience,  aptitude  for 
the  occasion,  and  then  tenacity,  perseverance  in  advantage,  never 
letting  go.  Aggression,  insufficiently  opposed,  is  not  slack  to 
seize  occasion.  Old  lines  of  order  have  been  surprised,  con 
fused — their  guns  reversed  against  the  old  defenders.  Somebody 
blundered,  somebody  slept,  or  worse.  Somebody,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  thrust  and  parr}',  failed  at  the  proper  time  to  draw  his 
sword.  It  is  not  having  rights  which  makes  the  freeman,  but 
knowing  and  maintaining  them.  The  great  victory  had  been 
won  before  the  first  shot  had  been  fired  of  that  military  victory 
by  which  the  political  afterwards  was  ratified.  A  four  years' 
civil  strife  chiefly  polled  and  announced  the  majority  which  was 
already  waiting  to  be  counted.  The  great  victory  was  won  when 
Northern  leanness  had  exchanged  itself  for  Southern  fatness; 
when  Northern  enterprise  laid  under  tribute  Southern  produce; 
when  Northern  energy  brought  the  world's  commerce  to  North 
ern  ports,  made  a  frozen  coast  a  chosen  coast,  to  which  emigrant 
hosts  repair,  its  highways  of  traffic,  the  accepted  highways;  by 
thrift  and  industry  grew  green  and  golden,  studded  with  bright 


MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

villages,  sounding  with  the  whirr  of  labor  in  the  hum  of  facto 
ries  and  the  mart  of  commerce;  when  the  mechanic,  the  strong 
arm  of  the  century,  dwelt  in  the  North,  and  the  bountiful  acres 
of  the  South  poured  into  his  lap  a  conqueror's  booty.  The  one 
victory  of  the  North  was  \von  when,  by  legislative  legerdemain, 
she  ranged  material  force  on  her  side.  Here  was  a  country  sub 
ject  to  a  constitution  which  was  supposed  to  greatly  limit  the 
objects  for  which  public  money  could  be  appropriated — this, 
nevertheless,  interpreted  and  applied  by  representatives  who 
could  be  approached,  influenced,  persuaded.  Here  was  the  stra 
tegic  point.  Acuteness,  pertinacity,  the  long  arm  and  sinewy 
grip  of  all  the  athletes  of  greed  and  impecunious  alertness  won 
the  day. 

It  will  never  do  to  forget  our  own  faults  in  the  explanation  of 
our  misfortunes.  It  is,  indeed,  our  own  faults,  which,  for  our 
own  sakes,  it  especially  behooves  us  to  bear  in  mind.  The 
Spanish  proverb  says:  "You  must  thank  yourself  if  you  break 
your  leg  twice  over  the  same  stone."  It  is  well,  however,  also 
to  observe  that  while  he  who  permits  injustice  must  suffer  for  it; 
he  who  commits  it  does  not  go  without  a  day.  Vainly  will  you 
expect  to  hold  under  the  sanctions  of  law  that  which  has  been 
gained  by  violation  of  law.  *Do  you  choose  to  thrive  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  demoralization  of  society?  Hope  not  to  secure 
yourself  as  though  society  were  moral.  Every  victory  of  man's 
mere  avidity  is  the  increase  of  his  material  at  the  expense  of  his 
spiritual  part.  The  material  accumulation  goes  on  part  passu 
with  the  moral  depletion,  so  that  a  whole  world  arrived  at  un 
justly  were  a  whole  soul  gangrened  by  the  booty.  "What  is 
there  wanting  to  me?"  asked  Ugolin,  tyrant  of  Pisa.  "Nothing 
but  the  anger  of  God."  The  mean  advantage  wins  the  day,  to 
be  sure;  but,  in  doing  so,  receives  wounds  which  can  never  be 
exhibited  as  honorable  scars.  Victory,  which  is  composed  of  a 
stroke  under  the  belt,  is  as  sharp  at  the  hilt  as  at  the  point. 

Thus  it  may  be  said  that  class  legislation,  followed  by  a  war 
of  coercion,  with  the  illegal  measures  to  prosecute,  and  after 
wards,  avowedly,  to  consummate,  have  not  established  justice, 
have  not  insured  the  domestic  tranquility,  have  not  provided  for 
the  common  defence,  nor  promoted  the  general  welfare.  They 
have  not  formed  a  more  perfect  Union,  but  a  far  less  perfect  one. 
The  North  was  successful  in  rolling  the  South  in  the  dust,  but 
equally  successful  in  rolling  up  a  seething  mass  of  discontent  at 
her  own  doors.  Selfish  politicians  have  accumulated  fortunes 
for  themselves  and  their  trencher  friends,  but  they  have  accumu 
lated  under  them  the  American  Commune.  The  American  Com 
mune  stands  to-day,  not  by  the  cradle  of  American  liberty,  in- 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  195 

deed,  but  by  the  side  of  that  more  modern  cradle  which  was 
rocked  in  the  torrent  of  anti-slavery  agitation.  The  spoliation 
of  the  public  seems  a  clever  thing  for  the  nonce,  but  when  high 
handed  jobbery  has  made  a  public  of  tramps  and  criminal  classes 
it  is  not  so  clever. 

Without  further  illustration,  it  may  be  stated  as  a  fact,  which 
legislators  will  do  well  to  take  note  of,  that  the  victim  of  in 
justice  has  ever  rising  in  him  the  burning  sense  that  he  has  been 
wronged.  A  people's  sleeping  Samson,  their  staunchness,  man 
hood,  rectitude  of  life  and  business  dealing,  all  the  early,  grand 
simplicity  of  act  and  counsel,  in  very  wantonness  of  sleep  is 
overborne — first  debauched  and  then  shorn  of  its  plume  of 
honor.  Low  aims  and  "covetousness  which  is  idolatry,"  the 
Philistines  which  lie  in  wait  for  this  modern  life,  fall  upon  such 
slumbers  swiftly,  fatally.  In  some  sort,  a  triumph  of  strength,  a 
righteous  retribution,  is  meted  out  then  and  there,  whereby  the 
moral  power  of  a  land  is  not  only  fettered,  but  blinded.  On  a 
precarious  basis  such  victory  ever  rests — victory  which  demands 
that  wrong  and  fraud,  and  lies,  shall  remain  stronger  than  the 
truth  and  right  of  things;  victory  which  must  hold  its  own 
against  the  true  forces  of  society  struggling  to  assert  themselves. 
If  those  forces,  roused  at  last,  fall  like  a  thunderbolt,  strike  back 
in  heart-breaking  rage,  not  in  strength  only,  but  in  blind  strength, 
what  a  dangerous  thing  for  victory!  One  law  is  that  the  strong 
est  for  the  time  being  shall  prevail ;  another  is  that  for  the  strong 
est  to  continue  victor,  he  must  have  not  only  might  on  his  side, 
but  right;  that  is,  not  one  might,  but  all  the  mights. 

Thus  it  is  in  the  game  of  oppression.  While  one  side  gains 
in  physical,  it  loses  in  moral  power;  the  other,  losing  in  physical 
power,  does  gain  in  moral.  According  to  the  purely  military 
estimate  of  Napoleon,  the  last  is  to  the  first  as  three  to  one.  Thus 
it  was  in  the  war  between  the  States.  The  fact  that  the  odds,  so 
long  resisted  by  the  South,  were  more  cruel  than  three  to  one, 
must  always  be  accepted  as  the  measure  of  her  moral  power. 
To  her  mind  it  was  very  clear  that  she  had  been  first  robbed  and 
then  calumniated;  because"*her  feathers  were  the  brightest  in  the 
plume  of  her  adversary,  she  had  none  left  to  shine  in  her  own. 
The  wealth,  the  factories,  the  opulent  cities  of  the  North,  were 
the  bright  spoil  of  her  fields,  which  had  never  been  retaliated. 
A  political  party  which  named  itself  "the  poor  man's  friend  " 
(Boss  Tweed,  and  other  Bosses,  have  since  done  the  same  thing 
on  the  same  basis)  was  not  to  our  taste.  The  surgeon  of  Le 
Sage  possessed  the  talent  of  turning  passengers  into  patients  by 
a  single  stroke  of  his  poinard,  upon  whom,  however,  he  was 
then  willing  to  exercise  his  curative  abilities.  "  Hypocrites," 


196  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

says  the  Talmud,  "first  steal  leather  and  then  make  shoes  for 
the  poor."  One  possession  the  South  had  not  parted  with — the 
hearts  of  her  children.  These  were  hers  only. 

John  Brown's  raid,  and  the  immense  import  of  a  fiasco  intrin 
sically  mean,  needs  not  be  spoken  of  here — an  armed  foray  to< 
liberate  slaves,  whereby  not  a  single  slave  was  made  insubordi 
nate!  Wendell  Phillips  said  of  him:  "He  had  conquered  Vir 
ginia;  made  of  her  a  disturbed  State,  unable  to  stand  on  her  own 
legs  for  trembling,  had  not  the  vulture  of  the  Union  hovered 
over  her;  proved  a  slave  State  to  be  only  fear  in  the  mask  of 
despotism.  Had  a  hundred  men  rallied  to  him  he  might  have 
marched  across  the  quaking  State  to  Richmond."  In  the  full 
ness  of  time  a  million  men  rallied  to  him ;  but  "marching  across 
the  quaking  State  to  Richmond,"  which  was  done  with  so  much 
smooth  facility  on  the  platform,  somewhat  lagged  in  the  field. 
"The  vulture  of  the  Union"  changed  sides  completely,  and  still 
the  trembling  legs  did  not  refuse  to  stand  up  with  some  stoutness. 
"Fear  in  the  mask  of  despotism"  disguised  itself  with  a  protracted 
and  strange  success. 

When  every  scandal  and  offence  to  the  South  took  the  offen 
sive  against  her — the  Morrill  tariff,  colossal  jobbery,  which  has 
since  spanned  a  continent;  defiance  of  contract,  which  has  since 
rained  national  banks  and  paper  money,  pledged  determination  to 
raze  the  foundations  of  the  South  and  to  topple  the  whole  edi 
fice — it  was  settled  that  she  could  be  brought  to  terms  by  com 
plete  exhaustion  and  defeat  alone.  When  superior  numbers  rose 
againt  her,  and  "false  to  freedom,  sought  to  quell  the  free,"  the 
opportunity  was  given  and  seized  to  prove  the  honesty  of  her 
own  convictions.  The  merchant  closed  his  ledger;  the  clerk 
sprang  over  his  desk;  the  student  threw  down  his  lexicon  and 
shouldered  a  musket;  the  planter  rode  his  best  horse  into  the 
field;  the  churches  melted  their  bells  into  guns,  and  women  their 
jewels  into  the  treasury.  A  storm  of  indignation  swept  over  the 
land,  in  the  tension  and  revolt  of  which,  all  the  forces  of  society 
were  bent  like  a  bow  and  recoiled  like  a  bolt.  Purer  devotion  to 
a  cause  never  was  beheld. 

It  has  been  said,  men  make  the  laws  and  women  make  the 
morals.  "Laws,"  says  Milton,  "are  masculine  births."  It  is  the 
prerogative  of  man,  seldom  as  it  is  availed  of,  to  clothe  himself 
in  their  majesty,  and  on  this  earth  to  be  their  representative;  but 
the  history  of  morals  is  woman's  history — a  deeply-important 
fact,  if  we  consider  another  aphorism :  "  Men  make  laws,  but  we 
live  by  custom."  You  recall  the  sally  of  Fletcher  of  Saltoun: 
"  I  care  not  who  makes  the  laws  of  a  people,  so  I  make  their 
songs."  The  song  is  that  which  floats  most  directly  from  the. 


ADDRESS  .OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBIXSOX.  197 

heart  of  a  people,  and  most  directly  floats  back  to  it  again.  It 
is  the  expression  of  that  which  is  anterior  to  all  laws:  the  moral 
sense  which  makes  them,  and  on  which  they  must  operate.  It 
is  the  power  behind  the  throne,  greater  than  the  throne,  which 
makes  the  Queen  of  Song  of  such  significance.  You  lay  a  hand 
on  the  pulse  of  a  people  when  you  touch  and  are  touched  by 
hers.  In  no  wise,  therefore,  can  it  be  omitted  as  a  most  literal 
fact,  that  in  the  discrimination  of  those  times  and  fates,  when  the 
customary  pilots  of  society,  the  priest,  the  poet,  the  newspaper 
editor,  were  so  largely  merged  in  the  secular  arm;  when  the 
minister  of  the  Gospel  fought  through  all  grades,  from  private 
in  the  ranks  up  to  Lieutenant-General  Commanding;  when  the 
poet  largely  had  his  "headquarters  in  the  saddle";  when  the 
editor  "associated  himself  with  the  staff,"  and  there  was  nobody 
left  to  make  either  the  laws  or  songs  of  a  people  in  the  terrible 
business  of  waging  their  wars:  the  tocsin  of  war  said  to  woman 
here  in  the  conservative  South,  "the  more  than  Papal  throne  of 
public  opinion,  be  that  your  throne,  and  be  your  proper  mercy 
and  your  proper  dignity  your  noblest  sceptre."  The  subtler  im 
pulses  of  the  war  fell  into  her  hands,  as  well  as  its  gentler  min 
istrations.  She  was  the  voice  of  its  heart  and  the  interpreter  of 
its  passion.  She  staunched  the  wound  and  smoothed  the  pillow. 
She  was  the  minister  to  the  sick  and  the  angel  to  the  dying. 
She  wove  the  banner  and  device  which  floated  at  the  head  of 
even-  column.  She  girded  on  the  harness  for  the  fight,  giving 
most  proudly  where  she  loved  most  dearly.  U limit-red  and  un 
beneficed,  she  rose  the  true  Pontiff  of  a  Commonwealth. 

In  this  form,  I  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  review  the  con 
victions  actuating  us,  in  a  contest  which  sealed  their  sincerity. 
That,  at  least,  can  never  more  be  questioned;  for,  though  when 
the  war  broke  out,  the  doctrine  of  our  assailants  was,  that  some 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  slaveholders  maintained  such  a 
reign  of  terror  at  the  South,  that  the  remaining  population  were 
driven  into  resistance,  wherefore  a  United  States  army  was  neces 
sary  in  their  midst  to  endow  them  with  free  speech;  when  the 
war  ended,  and  this  same  population  was  not  only  free  to  express 
devotion  to  the  Union,  but  greatly  rewarded  for  doing  so,  and 
punished  for  not  doing  so,  the  legislation  of  a  Northern  Congress 
assumed  that  their  devotion  to  their  cause  was  such  as  no  mis 
fortune  could  impair;  that  not  a  man  of  them  could  be  trusted, 
and  that  a  reign  of  terror  and  proscription,  undeniable  this  time, 
must  be  put  over  them  in  consequence!  The  strength  to  do  and 
suffer  greatly,  the  strength  of  Ironsides,  can  only  be  had  of  men 
"knowing  what  they  fight  for  and  loving  what  they  know."  To 
embody  the  just  sympathies  of  men,  this  it  is  to  be  a  republic. 


198  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

To  present  those  sympathies  and  that  justice  in  their  truest  form,, 
this  is  the  art  of  government.  A  government  rests  on  intelli 
gence,  when  intelligence  welcomes  it  as  intrinsically  noble  and 
beneficent.  More  absolutely  than  any  king,  the  citizens  of  such 
a  State  can  say:  "The  State,  it  is  ourselves,  our  sword,  our  hel 
met,  our  breastplate,  our  breast;  the  nobleness  we  ourselves  have 
made  and  are  made  by."  The  country  which  is  loved  is  the 
country  which  is  lovely. 

No  more  compendious  statement  of  the  war  has  been  given 
than  that  of  Lord  John  Russell:  "The  North  is  fighting  for  em 
pire,  the  South  for  independence."  To  this  may  added  another, 
by  our  President  Davis,  in  the  summer  of  1864:  "We  are  not 
fighting  for  slavery — we  are  fighting  for  independence."  We 
were  not  sapping,  but  supporting  the  principles  of  social  order; 
fighting  for  no  metaphysical,  fighting  for  practical  rights.  The 
men  of  '76,  when  they  spoke  of  the  right  of  revolution,  did  not 
mean  that  it  was  a  wrong,  but  that  it  was  a  right.  The  men  of 
'87  did  not  mean  to  make  bond  and  dependent  the  States,  which 
were  "and  of  a  right  ought  to  be  free  and  independent."  They 
did  not  organize  a  system  of  constitutional  warfare  between  the 
States,  but  its  constitutional  prohibition— a  government  under 
law  and  constitution;  not  over  it,  "outside  the  constitution." 
The  men  of  1861  said:  "Better  to  have  been  subjugated  by  the 
arms  of  Great  Britain,  than  by  our  own  Federal  compact."  The 
present  Executive  of  the  United  States,  on  a  late  tour  through 
the  country,  several  times  quoted  (if  the  newspapers  quote  him 
rightly),  as  coming  from  Andrew  Jackson,  the  words:  "The 
Union,  it  must  and  shall  be  preserved."  But  Jackson  never  made 
that  speech.  What  he  did  say  was,  "The  Federal  Union,  it  must 
be  preserved."  Ours  was  the  Federal  army.  In  any  correct  use 
of  terms,  our  assailant  was  the  anti-Federal  army.  Henry  Clay, 
in  1836,  speaking  of  the  Abolitionists,  asked:  "Is  their  purpose 
to  appeal  to  our  understandings  and  actuate  our  humanity?  And 
do  they  expect  to  accomplish  that  purpose  by  holding  us  up  to 
the  scorn,  and  contempt,  and  detestation  of  the  free  States  and 
the  whole  civilized  world?  .  .  .  The  Abolitionists,  let  me 
suppose,  succeed  in  their  present  aim  of  uniting  the  inhabitants 
of  the  free  States,  as  one  man  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  slave 
States.  Union  on  the  one  side  will  beget  union  on  the  other,, 
and  this  process  of  reciprocal  consolidation  will  be  attended  with 
all  the  violent  prejudices,  embittered  passions,  and  implacable 
animosities  which  ever  degraded  human  nature.  A  virtual  dis 
solution  of  tie  Union  will  havj  taken  place,  whi'e  the  forms  of 
its  existence  remain."  In  1861  the  causes  enumerated  by  Clay 
had  produced  the  anticipated  results.  The  constitution  was  then 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBIXSOX.  199. 

"marching  on"  to  be  operated  "outside  the  constitution,  liors  la 
loi,  as  Robespierre  would  say;  and  since  that  time,  as  we  know, 
has  been  planted  definitely  "on  the  side  of  freedom" — of  freedom 
to  be  violated  with  impunity! 

IV. 

A  despairing  audience  must  long  since  have  decided  that  this 
address  is  as  slow  in  getting  into  the  Wilderness,  as  the  Children 
of  Israel  were  in  getting  out  of  one.  But  wildernesses  abound 
in  this  world  in  order  that  faith  may  more  abound.  Sooner  or 
later  they  are  arrived  at  by  almost  every  path — that  of  this 
association  being  no  exception — which,  indeed,  least  of  all  was 
to  be  expected.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  illustration  of  the 
foregoing  premises  might  best  be  found,  not  in  the  day  of  elation 
which  closed  at  Gettysburg;  but  at  the  point  of  depression,  ex 
haustion,  and  "  wearing  out  by  attrition" — the  campaign  of  1864. 
Since  September  22'J,  18^2,  the  United  States,  in  the  language  of 
Mr.  Wendell  Phillips,  "  had  turned  its  face  Zionward" — that  is 
to  say,  President  Lincoln,  who  one  or  two  clays  earlier  had  pro 
nounced  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  to  be  "the  Pope's  bull 
against  the  comet";  on  the  day  above  mentioned  let  fly  at  the 
comet,  in  the  papal  and  bovine  manner  he  himself  described, 
with  results  which  full}'  justified  his  first  impressions. 

We  take  up  our  line  of  march  on  the  banks  of  the  Rapidan. 
In  the  name  of  the  river,  as  in  the  names  Northanna,  Southanna, 
Rivanna,  Fluvanna,  we  have  preserved  once  more  the  kindly- 
affectioned  zeal,  which  Virginia  so  long  retained  for  the  courtly 
and  sparkling  reign  of  Anne,  making  the  surface  of  our  soil  the 
bark  of  an  old  tree,  in  which  the  same  initials  perpetually  recur. 

The  country  about  the  border  line  between  Orange  and  Spot- 
sylvania,  extending  back  from  the  Rapidan,  is  a  dismal  region  of 
barrens  covering  rich  veins  of  ore;  on  the  Spotsylvania  side  more 
especially  of  iron,  on  the  other  of  gold — a  fact  which  has  written 
itself  upon  the  localities  and  creeks  of  the  neigoborhood,  one  of 
which,  Aline  run,  gives  the  name  to  the  battle  which  closed  the 
previous  campaign.  The  origin  of  the  name  goes  back  to  the 
first  settlement  of  the  country.  When  the  Knights  of  the  Gol 
den  Horse  Shoe  set  out  on  their  tramontane  ride  in  1/16,  to 
scale  the  Appalachians  and  drink  his  Majesty's  health  on  the 
summit  of  Mount  George  (sic  juvat  transcendcre  ]\Iontcs\  the 
journal  of  their  expedition  chronicled  the  following:  "At  half- 
past  two  we  got  the  horses;  at  three  we  mounted,  and  at  half 
an  hour  after  four  we  came  up  with  our  baggage,  at  a  small  river 
three  miles  on  the  way,  which  we  call  Mine  River,  because  there 


2OO  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

\vas  an  appearance  of  a  silver  mine  by  it."  In  a  good  sense  it 
came  to  pass  afterwards  that  what  glittered  was  not  silver. 

The  country  is  one  of  gold,  but  of  melancholy,  forbidding  ex 
terior.  It  is  as  if  it  said:  "My  severity  is  seeming,  my  bounty 
is  real.  I  hold  one  of  the  prizes  of  life,  therefore  not  to  be 
turned  up  in  the  first  furrow  or  the  first  week;  the  reward  of  dis 
crimination,  persistency,  wise,  discriminating  method;  one  of 
the  great  prizes  of  life,  which  cannot  be  bought  simply,  but  must 
be  wrought  withal.  I  carry  my  frowns  on  my  brow,  my  beams 
in  my  breast."  It  is  a  country  of  iron  and  gold,  as  it  were,  of 
gold,  and  the  iron  to  defend  the  gold;  a  fountain  of  wealth,  and 
the  mailed  hand  needful  to  assure  it;  a  country  of  untamed 
forest  and  coppice,  presenting  an  aspect  of  savagery  unchanged 
from  the  time  when  the  savage  was  its  lord.  Endless  successions 
of  jungle  have  come  and  gone,  each  in  turn  rotting  at  the  base 
of  another  like  unto  itself;  as  savage  hordes,  as  wild  beasts  come 
and  go;  their  whole  past  the  dust  under  their  feet.  So  here  the 
foliage  of  each  recurring  spring  rises  out  of  the  mast  of  all  the 
autumns  packed  about  the  roots — a  savage  past,  which  fades  as 
'the  leaf,  and  is  then  most  useful  when  turned  into  manure.  All 
the  ages  of  the  past  lie  there,  pressed  into  a  few  handfuls  of 
inorganic  mould,  feeding  the  labyrinth  of  to-day.  He  who 
wishes  to  see  a  district  in  the  heart  of  the  oldest  of  American 
Commonwealths,  which  looks  as  it  did  when  the  white  man  first 
landed  on  our  shores,  will  find  it  here.  "So  thou  art  Brasse 
without,  but  Golde  within,"  written  under  the  portrait  of  Captain 
John  Smith,  might  be  written  over  this  portion  of  the  State  he 
so  greatly  helped  to  found.  The  last  time  I  saw  it,  looking  back 
from  a  rise  in  the  road,  the  mellow  gush  of  a  perfect  October 
Sabbath  was  throwing  its  deep,  delicate  farewell,  at  once  the 
noblest  and  the  tenderest  of  the  year,  over  the  changing  autumn 
leaf;  where  one  might  say  a  perpetual  Sabbath  reigned,  were  rest 
mere  idleness,  and  not  "the  fitting  of  self  to  its  sphere";  were 
it  not  "loving  and  serving  the  highest  and  best";  but  as  it  was, 
one  might  have  said  that  the  rest  of  the  Lord  poured  a  ray  from 
his  halo  around  the  lair  of  his  adversary,  making  the  wrath  of 
the  Wilderness  to  praise  Him:  so  that,  for  the  instant,  one  might 
see,  as  in  creation  week,  that  all  is  good.  The  tall,  gaunt  pines, 
and  clumps  of  pines,  rising  alternately  in  light  and  shadow, 
waved  aloft  like  green  peaks  and  islands  in  a  rolling  sea,  far  as 
the  eye  could  stretch,  of  autumn  glory. 

It  must  ever  be  a  satisfaction  to  remember  that  the  same  Henry, 
Earl  of  Southampton,  who  with  one  hand  lifted  up  in  the  East 
the  "Glorious  Morning"  of  a  Shakespeare's  Sun,  with  the  other 
planted  in  his  "golden  face"  the  tops  and  meadows  of  Virginia, 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  2OI 

<~md  poured  over  both  the  age  of  Elizabeth.  He  was  a  great 
Henry  who  was  "the  tenth  muse"  to  those  eternal  numbers  and 
these  pathless  wilds:  architect  of  those  stirring  fortunes,  which 
in  1607  planted  the  Cross  at  the  foot  of  the  foils  of  James  rizer. 
One  cannot  read  now  without  emotion  the  verses  of  the  poet 
Drayton,  written  at  the  time  of  embarkation: 

You  hrave,  heroic  mind?. 
Worthy  your  country's  mime. 

That  honor  still  pursue. 
Whilst  loitering  hinds 
Lurk  here  ut  home  with  shame, 
Go  and  subdue. 


And  cheerfully  nt  sen. 
Success  you  .-till  entice. 

To  get  the  pearl  and  gold, 
And  ours  to  hold 

Virginia. 
Earth's  only  paradise. 


But  it  is  the  leaf  of  a  century  later  which  I  wish  to  hold  up 
for  a  moment,  because  there  happens  to  be  on  it  an  impression 
of  tlir  scenery  upon  which  we  ;uv  immediately  to  enter.  One 
of  the  merriest  of  the  narratives  of  Colonel  William  Byrd  re 
lates  certain  journeys  of  the  Sovereign  of  Westover,  called  by 
him  "A  progress  to  the  Mines,"  which  finally  drew  rein  at 
"  Colonel  Spotswood's  enchanted  castle,"  on  one  side  of  a  Ger- 
manna  street,  opposite  "a  Baker's  dozen  of  ruinous  Tenements," 
where  "so  many  German  Families  had  dwelt  some  years  ago." 
Only  Mrs.  Spotswood  was  at  home,  "who  received  her  old 
acquaintances  with  main*  a  gracious  smile."  "I  was  carried,"  he 
writes,  "into  a  room  elegantly  set  off  with  Pier-Glasses. 
A  brace  of  tame  deer  ran  familiarly  about  the  house,  and  one  of 
them  came  to  stare  at  me  as  a  stranger.  But,  unluckily,  spying 
his  own  figure  in  the  glass,  he  made  a  spring  over  the  Tea-Table 
that  stood  under  it  and  shattered  the  glass  to  pieces,  and  falling 
back  upon  the  tea-table  made  a  terrible  Fracas  among  the  China. 
.  .  But  it  was  worth  all  the  Damage  to  show  the  moderation  and 
good  humor  with  which  she  bore  this  disaster.  In  the  evening 
the  noble  Colonel  came  home  from  his  mines,  and  Mrs.  Spots- 
wood's  sister,  Miss  Theky,  who  had  been  to  meet  him  en  cavalier." 
The  next  day  the  visitor  was  instructed  in  the  mystery  of  making 
iron,  wherein  Spotswood  had  led  the  way,  and  was  the  Tubal 
Cain  of  Virginia,  being  the  first  in  North  America  to  erect  a  fur 
nace.  However,  the  furnace  was  still  great  part  of  the  time,  and 


2O2  M K.MORI AL    VOLUME. 

Spotswood  said  "  he  was  rightly  served  for  committing  his  affairs 
to  a  mathematician,  whose  thoughts  were  always  among  the 
stars."  ijater  in  the  day  there  was  shown  a  marble  fountain, 
"where  Miss  Theky  often  sat  and  bewayled  her  virginity" — not 
ineffectually,  since  she  left  descendants.  "At  night  we  drank 
prosperity  to  all  the  Colonel's  Projects  in  a  Bowl  of  Rack  Punch, 
and  then  retired  to  our  devotions."  The  next  night  the  two 
Barons  "quitted  the  threadbare  subject  of  iron,  and  changed  the 
scene  to  Politics."  Spotswood  said  the  "ministry  had  receded 
from  their  demand  upon  New  England  to  raise  a  standing  salary 
for  all  succeeding  Governors,  for  fear  some  curious  members  of 
the  House  of  Commons  should  inquire  how  the  money  was  dis 
posed  of  that  had  been  raised  in  the  other  American  colonies  for 
the  Support  of  their  Governors.  .  .  .  He  said  further,  that  if 
the  Assembly  in  New  England  wrould  stand  Bluff,  he  did  not  see 
how  they  could  be  forced  to  raise  money  against  their  will.  .  . 
Then  the  Colonel  read  me  a  lecture  upon  Tar,"  &c. 

Here  was  a  man  who  a  year  later,  making  a  visit  to  his  planta 
tion,  laid  off  a  tract  at  the  Point  of  Appomattox  to  be  called 
Petersburg,  and  another  at  Shoccoe's  to  be  called  Richmond, 
supping  with  another  who  had  erected  the  first  furnace  in  America ; 
led  the  first  troops  over  the  mountains;  who  promoted  Benjamin 
Franklin  to  be  postmaster  of  Pennsylvania;  a  veteran  of  Blen 
heim,  wounded  in  the  breast  there,  and  afterwards  dying  on  his 
way  to  take  command  in  the  army  against  Carthagena.  Cineas, 
had  he  stepped  in  to  spend  the  evening,  would  have  been  em 
barrassed  to  find  Tubal  Cain  and  Triptolemus  under  the  same 
roof.  The  whole  logic  of  the  Revolution  was  considered  by  that 
host  and  guest,  as  they  sat  in  the  September  mildness  with  their 
feet  under  the  mahogony,  to  teach  us  what  a  thing  it  is  condcrc 
gcntcin. 

It  is  a  simple  and  a  grand  old  day  which  has  come  down  to  us 
from  those  founders  of  commonwealths,  the  knightliest  of  that 
knightly  band — 

u  Who  rode  \\\\\\  •>  pot*  wood  round  the  l:\nd, 
And  rode  \\ith  Raleigh  round  the  seas" ; 

when  the  planter  had  his  own  capital,  his  own  Birmingham,  his 
own  standing  army,  his  own  navigable  river,  and  shipped  his 
tobacco  at  his  own  doors;  when,  after  the  union  of  England  and 
Scotland,  the  escutcheon  of  the  Colony  was  quartered  with  the 
arms  of  England,  France  and  Ireland,  crested  by  a  maiden  queen, 
with  the  motto,  "En  dat  Virginia  quartaui"  (before  the  union 
quintan!) ;  when  the  Atlantic  ocean  was  the  Virginia  sea  in  Cap- 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  203 

tain  Smith's  geography,  and  so  exposed  in  the  highly  ornamented 
map  which  has  come  down  from  him,  with  a  group  of  naked 
savages  on  one  side,  and,  properly  enough,  "Honi  soit  qui  mal  v 
pcnsc"  on  the  other. 

One  other  sentence  from  this  old  past,  and  I  am  done.  "Three 
miles  farther,"  writes  Colonel  Byrcl  of  his  journey  forward,  "we 
came  to  the  Germanna  road,  where  I  emitted  the  chair  and  con 
tinued  my  journey  on  horseback.  I  rode  eight  miles  together 
over  a  stony  road,  and  had  on  either  side  continual  poisoned 
Fields,  with  nothing  but  saplings  growing  on  them."  Here  in 
1/32  is  the  description  which  serves  us  for  to-tiny.  The  Lord  of 
\\cstover  is  gone.  His  broad  empire  is  gone.  All  that  ren.ains 
of  the  most  accomplished  hand  and  courtly  mind,  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  are  these  paintings  of  his  pen,  around  which  for 
ever  wantons  the  merry  laughter  of  a  witty  lip,  giving  us  the 
best,  it  not  the  only  picture  of  the  time  and  ot  himself,  who 
almost  was  the  time.  Triptolcmus  and  his  gay  steeds,  with  the 
revering  slaves  who  held  the  stirrup  for  their  lord,  have  scudded 
to  far-off  lands;  are  clean  gone  and  scattered  here  as  the  autumn 
leaf  they  strode  home  in.  Tubal  Cain  is  gone.  The  (i<ldcn 
Horse-Shoer  backed  the  pale  horse  in  season,  and  took  his  fare 
well  ride  doubtless  in  the  old  knightly  fashion.  Marlborough's 
veteran  has  fought  his  last  fight,  and,  faithful  son  of  the  church, 
we  \vill  hope  received  his  death  wound,  too,  in  the  breast.  Spots- 
wood's  "enchanted  caslle,"  the  "gracious  smile"  which  made  it  so, 
the  tame  deer,  and  the  pier-glass  through  which  they  darted  panic 
stricken,  as  wiser  animals  have  been  before  and  since  by  a  "coun 
terfeit  presentment,"  are  melted  into  air.  The  German  colony  is 
gone.  Their  ruinous  tenements  have  ceased  even  to  be  ruinous. 
'1  he  marble  fountain  and  its  virginal  wail  are  gone,  or  at  most 
only  the  wail  is  left.  The  banquets  are  gone.  No  fiscal  Moffett, 
with  his  monitory  bell-punch,  had  been  conceived  in  1732,  and 
"the  Bowl  of  Rack  Punch"  has  left  not  a  rack  behind.  But  those 
"poisoned  Fields"  remain.  They  are  the  battlefields  of  the  \Yil- 
derness,  where  Spots  wood's  descendant  massed  again  the  iron  of 
a  people,  leading  another  kind  of  Horse-Shoe  Knights,  "red-wat 
shod." 

Through  this  country  run  two  principal  roads,  known  as 
the  Orange  and  Fredcricksburg  turnpike  (or  more  commonly- 
Old  pike),  and  south  of  this  the  Orange  and  Freclericksburg 
plank-road.  These  two  roads,  about  the  point  of  the  battlefield, 
run  nearly  parallel,  at  a  distance  varying1  from  two  miles  and  a 
half  to  two  miles  and  a  quarter,  but  beyond  that  point  converge 
very  rapidly,  and  form  a  junction  at  the  old  Wilderness  church, 
some  two  miles  further  on.  South  of  the  Plank  road,  and 


MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

diverging  from  it,  where  the  line  of  battle  ran  on  the  6th  of  May, 
some  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  is  the  roadbed  of  the  then  unfin 
ished  Orange  and  Fredericksburg  railroad.  Crossing  the  two 
established  highways,  and  crossing  each  other  so  as  to  make  an 
X,  are  the  Germanna  plank-road  and  the  Brock  road,  the  former 
running  from  Germanna  ford  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and 
constituting,  in  connection  with  the  latter,  the  direct  road  to 
Richmond  from  Germanna  ford.  The  Cath?rpin  road  intersects 
the  Brock  road  about  eight  miles  south  of  the  Plank  road,  at 
Todd's  tavern,  and  connects  with  the  road  from  Ely's  ford  at 
Aldrich,  two  miles  southest  from  f  hancellorsville. 

Confederate  resistance  in  the  field  meant,  from  the  beginning, 
3.  general's  strategy  and  an  army's  patience  equalizing  unequal 
numbers  and  resources.  It  meant  the  show  of  troops  at  many 
points;  their  rapid  concentration  at  a  few,  even  at  the  expense  of 
the  exposure  of  the  rest.  It  meant  forced  marches,  meagre 
equipment,  deficient  food  and  forage.  It  meant  this  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  It  meant  it  more  than  ever  in  the  last.  The 
greatest  and  best  appointed  army  of  modern  times,  the  army 
which  marched  to  Moscow,  moving  in  midsummer  through  the 
friendly  country  of  Lithuania  from  the  Nieman  to  the  Dwina,  a 
distance  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  in  a  time  which 
made  the  average  rate  of  travel  less  than  twelve  miles  a  day,  lost 
ten  thousand  horses  and  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  men;  left 
a  hundred  and  fifty  guns  and  five  hundred  caissons  at  Wilna,  and 
twenty-five  thousand  sick  and  dying  in  the  hospitals  and  villages 
•of  Lithuania.  These  losses,  the  bulletin  says,  arose  from  "the 
uncertainty,  the  distresses,  the  marches  and  countermarches  of  the 
troops,  their  fatigues  and  sufferances."  The  want  of  dry  fodder 
for  the  horses,  and  the  necessity  of  supporting  them  upon  the 
green  crop  which  was  growing  in  the  fields,  mowed  them  down 
in  such  heaps.  Just  such  marches  arid  countermarches,  fatigues, 
and  sufferings  of  the  troops,  was  the  price  of  all  Confederate 
achievement.  Campaigns  in  the  Valley,  battles  around  Rich 
mond,  sieges  of  Petersburg,  all  depended  upon  this.  On  the  eve 
of  his  long  wrestle  with  Grant,  Lee  had  to  close  with  forces,  not 
only  worn  and  torn  by  three  bloody  years,  but  now  pinched  by 
famine  in  the  track  of  armies,  a  portion  of  whose  strategy  was, 
as  Sheridan's  correspondent  boasted  of  that  marauder's  opera 
tions  in  the  Valley,  "so  to  desolate,  that  a  crow  flying  over 
would  have  to  carry  his  own  rations." 

Three  years  of  such  warfare  had  not  told  exclusively  on  one 
side.  Immigration,  it  is  true,  did  much  to  relieve  recruiting  in 
the  North.  At  the  same  time  the  working  classes  were  becom 
ing  dissatisfied,  and  dimly  perceived  that  the  cost  of  the  struggle 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  2O5 

fell  on  them  in  the  end,  since  they  who  paid  it  recovered  it  in 
the  prices  charged  on  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  felt  that  the 
value  of  money  had  fallen  more  than  wages  had  risen.  The 
financier  who  had  matured  the  "  Morrill  Tariff,"  imposing  a  duty 
of  thirty-three  per  cent,  upon  all  articles  of  European  manufac 
ture,  in  May,  1864,  proposed  to  raise  the  same  to  sixty-six  per 
cent.,  in  order  to  double  the  duties.  Chase  had  hitherto  suc 
ceeded  in  carrying  on  an  expensive  war,  as  it  seemed,  without 
taxation.  He  had  succeeded  in  manipulating  trade  into  the  spec 
ulation  which  thrives  upon  war.  By  building  up  a  war  business 
upon  and  by  reason  of  the  disorganization  of  all  other  business, 
he  had  created  a  public  policy  which  owed  its  success  to  private 
demoralization.  The  few  taxes  he  had  laid,  in  the  main,  had  not 
been  paid.  His  excise  duties  did  not  prove  a  success.  His  in 
come  tax  was  far  from  realizing  expectations.  His  main  stay 
was  paper  money — a  sword  which  was  sure  to  pierce  the  hand 
which  leaned  on  it.  Truly  it  will  be  good  fortune  if  they  who 
drew  that  sword  do  not  perish  by  it.  At  length  he  had  announced 
that  five  hundred  million  dollars  a  year,  which  he  deemed  a  trifle, 
must  be  raised  from  the  pockets  of  the  people.  In  1864  six  per 
cent,  gold-bearing  bonds  brought  only  fifty  per  cent,  in  gold. 
"We  will  put  forth  one  more  effort,"  said  Thaddeus  Stevens,  "to 
lift  our  sinking  credit  by  the  hair  of  its  head  fom  the  sea  of 
bankruptcy." 

At  the  opening  of  this  campaign  the  Southern  prospect  was 
sufficiently  cheering  to  men  accustomed  to  peril.  The  two  great 
armies  of  attack  were  opposed  in  the  East  and  the  West  by 
armies  of  defence,  both  determined  to  dispute,  and  one  not  unable 
to  become  an  army  of  offence  and  even  of  invasion.  In  Louisi 
ana,  on  the  8th  of  April,  Banks  had  been  defeated  and  stampeded 
at  Mansfield  by  General  Taylor.  There  followed  a  second  en 
counter  between  the  same  Generals  on  the  Qth,  wherein  the 
Northern  papers  claimed  a  victory,  wliich,  they  said,  "was  marred 
by  an  order  from  Banks  to  retreat."  This  order,  if  it  was  given, 
was  so  excessively  complied  with  as  to  result  in  a  flight,  in  which 
the  wounded  were  abandoned. 

About  the  same  time,  General  Forrest  made  repeated  and  suc 
cessful  attacks  upon  the  posts  of  the  enemy  on  the  Mississippi. 
With  no  ordinary  feeling,  I  make  this  passing  allusion  to  one 
who  can  never  hear  it.  To-night  resolutions  are  read  to  you  in 
commemoration  of  his  life  and  services.  The  bold  rider  is  down; 
the  swift  sabre  is  quenched.  The  gray  uniform  which  in  life  he- 
covered  with  honor  now  covers  the  trooper  in  his  grave,  also 
with  honor.  He  lies,  as  it  were,  wrapt  in  his  own  valor. 

In  the  East,  General  Hoke,  who  had  been  detached  from  Gene- 


2C)6  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

ral  Lee's  army  for  the  purpose,  had  captured  the  town  of  Ply 
mouth  in  North  Carolina,  and  a  Confederate  ram  had  sunk  three 
iron-clads  in  Roanoke  sound.  In  addition,  a  new  line  of  supplies 
had  been  opened  just  as  all  the  old  ones  were  closing.  The  new 
Orleans  custom-house  drove  a  traffic  in  "permits,"  under  which 
goods  were  conveyed,  at  a  cost  of  about  one-third  the  invoice  of 
the  goods,  into  the  Confederate  lines.  Ordinarily  the  worst 
charge  you  can  bring  against  an  officer  of  government  is  to  say 
that  he  co-operates  with  those  who  make  money  by  jobbing  in 
the  public  funds.  In  a  most  pernicious  way  he  gives  "aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy."  But  this  New  Orleans  business  heaped 
coals  of  fire  on  his  head  with  the  face  which  "good  men  wear 
who  have  done  a  virtuous  action." 

But  though  such  gleams  of  advantage — to  longing  minds, 
which  clutched  at  gleams  as  drowning  men  at  straws — did 
brighten  the  sky,  the  sky  was  not  a  bright  one.  "Undeniably," 
writes  Doctor  Mahan,  in  his  History  of  the  War  (from  official 
records,  and  giving  the  data  of  his  computations),  "the  Union 
armies  outnumbered  those  of  the  Confederacy,  in  all  cases  as 
two,  commonly  as  three,  and  during  the  entire  period  that  Gene 
ral  Grant  was  our  Commander-in-Chief,  as  four  to  one."  The  re 
port  of  Secretary  Stanton  shows  that  on  May  1st,  1864,  the  aggre- 
grate  military  force  of  all  arms  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
numbered  nine  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ten  men,  and  that  on  May  I,  1864,  there  was  an  available  force 
present  for  duty  of  six  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  forty-five,  and  that  of  these  there  were  on  that  day 
under  Grant  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  sixty  officers  and  men ;  in  the  neighboring  departments  of 
Washington,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  West  Virginia,  and  the 
middle  department  at  Baltimore,  an  additional  force  of  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-two 
men,  which  Grant  could  draw  upon  for  his  operations  in  Virginia. 
In  the  meantime,  the  draft  was  enforced,  volunteering  stimulated 
by  high  bounties,  and  in  the  Northwest  hundred  days'  troops 
ordered  out  to  relieve  the  troops  on  garrison  and  local  duty,  and 
send  them  to  the  front.  Orders  were  given  for  the  movement  of 
all  the  armies  not  later  than  the  fourth  of  May.  Grant's  thou 
sands  struck  their  tents  on  the  night  of  the  third. 

Lee's  letters  on  the  threshold  of  this  campaign  are  the  letters 
of  one  in  straits.  On  the  8th  of  March,  we  find  him  writing  to 
Longstreet,  then  in  East  Tennessee,  that  it  is  simply  impossible 
for  him  to  recruit  the  command  of  the  latter  without  stripping 
all  others;  and  if  horses  could  be  obtained  for  Longstreet,  where 
is  forage  to  come  from  ?  There  is  none  to  be  had  nearer  than 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  2O/ 

Georgia.  It  cannot  be  furnished  by  the  railroad.  No,  the  best 
thing  were  for  Longstreet  and  Johnston  to  make  a  combined 
movement  into  Middle  Tennessee,  where  forage  and  provisions 
can  be  had,  cut  the  armies  at  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville  in  two, 
draw  them  from  these  points,  and  strike  at  them  in  succession  as 
opportunity  offers.  Again  and  again  Lee  returns  to  this. 

But  if  this  is  not  practical,  then  every  preparation  should  be 
made  to  meet  the  approaching  storm  which  will  burst  upon  Vir 
ginia.  Accumulate  supplies  at  Richmond,  or  at  points  conve 
nient,  as  fast  as  possible.  Notify  Beauregard  of  the  transfer  of 
troops  from  Charleston  and  Fortress  Monroe.  We  shall  have  to 
glean  troops  from  every  quarter.  All  pleasure  travel  (think  of  it 
at  such  a  time  !)  should  cease;  everything  be  devoted  to  necessary 
wants.  Reinforce  Johnston  from  Polk,  Mobile,  and  Beauregard. 
Tell  Longstreet  to  come  to  me;  throw  his  corps  rapidly  into  the 
Valley  to  counteract  any  movement  of  the  enemy  in  that  quarter, 
and  be  where  he  can  unite  with  me,  or  I  with  him,  as  circumstances 
require.  "Forward  Moke's  command,"  he  writes  Pickett,  "the 
enemy  will  advance  as  soon  as  the  roads  will  permit."  Imboden 
and  Breckinridge,  in  the  Valley,  must  be  prepared  to  cross  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  a  moment's  notice. 

\Ye  know  how  Breckinridge  did  afterwards,  like  the  young  and 
old  lion,  sweep  the  Valley,  and  then  bound  over  the  mountains  to 
the  side  of  Lee,  his  true  place.  On  April  I2th  Lee  writes  to  the 
President:  "My  anxiety  on  the  subject  of  provisions  is  so  great 
that  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  it  to  your  Excellency."  On 
the  1 5th  he  would  draw  Longstreet  and  Pickett  to  him,  and 
"move  right  against  the  enemy  on  the  Rappahannock. 
But  to  make  this  move  I  must  have  provisions  and  forage.  I  am 
not  yet  able  to  call  to  me  the  cavalry  or  artillery."  On  the  22cl 
Longstreet  has  reached  Cobham  from  East  Tennessee.  On  the 
29th  he  writes:  "I  shall  be  too  weak  to  oppose  Meade's  army 
without  Hoke's  and  Johnston's  brigades."  On  the  3<Dth  scouts 
report  that  Meade's  pontoon  trains  have  advanced  south  of  the 
Rappahannock.  One  other  little  sentence  has  a  touch  of  pathos 
in  the  sheer  simplicity  with  which  it  joins  events.  "The  grass  is 
springing  now,"  Lee  wrote  on  the  28th  of  April,  "and  I  am  draw 
ing  the  cavalry  and  artillery  near  to  me." 

In  this  correspondence,  thus  hastily  glanced  at,  is  given  the 
outline  of  an  army's  urgency;  the  wide  compass  of  its  watch  at 
the  instant  the  enemy  had  couched  his  spear;  the  need  to  decide 
quickly  and  surely  upon  different  lines  of  operations  and  probabil 
ities  of  attack;  to  concentrate  in  an  instant  upon  the  decisive 
points  of  a  theatre  of  war;  to  fall  with  the  whole  weight  of  a 
.smaller  army  upon  fractions  of  a  larger  one,  wherever  they  were 


2O8  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

exposed,  which,  to  be  done  with  the  destructiveness  of  lightning' 
had  to  be  done  with  the  rapidity  as  well.  A  good  general  will 
always  say  to  his  troops,  as  Napoleon  did :  "  I  would  rather  gain 
victory  at  the  expense  of  your  legs  than  at  the  price  of  your 
blood."  Here  was  an  army,  whose  transportation  alarmingly 
prognosticated  the  spavined  state,  which  had  to  make  up  in  ve 
locity  what  it  wanted  in  weight. 

Horace  Walpole  tells  one  of  his  funny  stories  of  a  General  of 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  at  a  dinner  with  the  Lord  Mayor. 
An  imposing,  keenly  speculative  alderman,  who  sat  next  to  the 
General,  addressed  him  with  "Sir,  yours  must  be  a  very  laborious 
profession."  "O,  no,"  replied  the  General,  "we  fight  about  four 
hours  in  the  morning,  and  two  or  three  after  dinner,  and  then  we 
have  all  the  rest  of  the  day  to  ourselves."  But  this  absurdity 
came  near  to  being  the  fact  of  a  fight  now  approaching,  ushered  in 
in  May  and  ushered  out  in  April  following.  Our  season  of  rest, 
our  long  hybernation  was  over,  leaving  us  anything  but  replen 
ished.  General  Heth  has  stated,  in  a  late  communication  to  the 
Philadelphia  Weekly  Tii/ies,  that  at  this  period  (in  1864)  "the  ra 
tion  of  a  general  officer  was  double  that  of  a  private,  and  so  mea 
gre  was  that  double  supply,  that  frequently  to  appease  my  hunger 
I  robbed  my  horse.  .  .  .  What  must  have  been  the  condition 
of  the  private" — a  problem  vastly  pleasanter  to  propound  now 
than  to  solve  then. 

But  on  the  28th  of  April  the  grass  was  springing.  Nature  was 
recruiting.  She  too  must  be  pressed  into  the  ranks.  Her  ways, 
of  pleasantness  and  paths  of  peace,  sweet  as  ever,  were  announc 
ing  then  that  the  seed-corn  of  a  people  was  ripe  for  the  harvest 
of  death,  where  men  were  to  fall  like  grain.  Her  robe  of  increase 
was  to  be  our  martial  cloak.  In  that  fair  springtime  man  seemed 
to  say  to  nature:  "Thou  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease;  a 
material  world  become  more  and  more  in  this  new  era,  the  higher 
and  nobler  less  and  less."  The  notes  and  shapes  of  spring  had 
come  again;  the  birds  were  blithe  as  ever  in  the  branches;  the 
skies  were  bending  with  old-time  kindness  overhead;  the  blue 
hills  of  Virginia,  to  the  slopes  of  which  her  army  stretched,  stood 
in  their  rampart  strong  and  beautiful  as  ever.  Spring,  fresh- tinted, 
was  glittering  once  more  where,  so  tragically,  all  that  glittered 
was  not  gold.  Nature  was  preaching  peace  and  peaceful  increase 
on  the  Rapidan,  as  elsewhere,  when  there  was  no  peace  there  in 
the  throat  of  war.  And  so  General  Lee  drew  the  cavalry  and 
artillery  near  to  him,  since  the  grass  was  springing  on  the  28th 
of  April. 

Mr.  Swinton  has  stated — no  doubt  with  his  habitual  fidelity  to 
the  means  of  information  in  his  reach — that  "  Lee's  army,  at  this. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  2OQ 

time,  numbered  fifty-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-six 
men  of  all  arms,"  a  statement  derived  from  the  monthly  returns 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  now  at  the  archive  office  at 
Washington.  General  Early  is  satisfied  that  General  Lee's  army 
did  not  exceed  fifty  thousand  effective  men  of  all  arms.  General 
Lee  has  himself  stated  (page  268  of  Personal  Reminiscences)  that 
the  number  of  effective  men  under  his  command  on  May  4th, 
1864,  of  all  arms,  was  between  forty-five  and  fifty  thousand.  His 
right,  under  Ewell,  extended  to  the  mouth  of  Aline  run;  the  left, 
under  Hill,  to  Liberty  Mills.  Two  divisions  of  Longstreet  were 
encamped  in  the  rear  near  Gordonsville.  The  other  division, 
under  Pickett,  which  had  not  accompanied  the  corps  commander 
to  the  West,  had  been  and  continued  to  be  retained  near  Rich 
mond.  The  brigade  of  Hoke  was  absent.  That  of  R.  D.  John 
ston  arrived  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  fight  of  the  second 
day. 

This  army  had  now  to  deal  with  a  General  who  proposed  to  meet 
the  clanger  of  defeat  in  detail  by  the  altogether  simple  expedient  of 
having  more  troops  everywhere  than  the  Confederates  had  any 
where  (a  plan  so  simple,  that  the  moment  a  man  of  genius  men 
tioned  it,  every  other  must  have  felt  mortified  at  .not  having 
thought  of  it  himself),  and  whose  generalship  was,  in  his  own 
sober  second  thought,  composed  after  the  event,  "to  hammer  con 
tinuously  against  the  armed  force  of  the  enemy  and  his  resources, 
until  by  mere  attrition,  if  in  no  other  way,  there  should  be  nothing 
left  to  him  but  an  equal  submission,"  &c.  Xot  a  bad  way,  per 
haps  the  only  way,  to  conquer  freemen,  this  of  "wearing  them 
out  by  attrition";  this  of  dashing  superior  numbers,  in  wave  after 
wave,  upon  freedom's  living  wall  until  the  last  foe  has  been  slain, 
and  the  dashing  troops  can  hear  no  sound  "save  their  own  dash- 
ings."  If  in  no  other  way  it  can  be  done,  then  in  this  one  way 
it  must  be  done,  until  there  be  "nothing  left  to  him."  Grant  cer 
tainly  was  of  this  opinion,  for  when  his  lieutenant  suggested  to 
him  that  he  might  supplement  the  programme  with  a  little  ma- 
nceuvring,  he  replied,  "I  never  mancL-uvre." 

Credit  must  be  given  Grant  for  his  turn  for  keeping  his  own 
counsel.  He  did  not  succeed  in  preventing  his  plans  from  cross 
ing  to  General  Lee,  the  moment  they  were  known  definitely  to 
himself;  but  he  did  succeed,  as  none  of  his  predecessors  had  done, 
in  keeping  them  from  his  own  army  correspondents.  It  was  not 
until  long  after  this  that  Wendell  Phillips  said  of  him:  "As  in 
the  case  of  another  animal,  we  took  him  for  a  lion  until  we  heard 
his  voice."  A  valuable  faculty  this  of  reticence.  He  who  is  in 
capable  of  this  is  incapable  of  everything.  He  who  has  it,  though 
he  has  nothing  else,  is  capable  of  something.  One  of  the  very 


2IO  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

ablest  things  Grant  ever  did  was  for  some  years  to  lock  his  jaws 
over  his  tongue.  Loquacity  does  not  fight  battles,  still  less  does 
it  win  them.  To  the  thin  vapidity  of  skin-depth,  glibness  is  al 
most  a  necessity.  The  signs  are,  latterly,  that  Grant's  silence  is 
but  skin-deep;  which  again,  in  his  case,  is  no  ordinary  thickness. 
Frederick  the  Great  said  that  if  his  night-cap  knew  what  was  in 
his  head  he  would  throw  it  into  the  fire.  Grant,  doubtless,  had 
less  difficulty  in  keeping  his  night-cap  from  being  surprised. 
Many  a  time,  in  the  campaign  "on  that  line  if  it  took  all  the 
summer,"  which  by  several  lines  was  conducted  to  the  following 
spring,  he  must  have  felt  himself  in  the  condition  of  Napoleon, 
when  he  wrote  to  his  brother  Joseph :  "  You  will  so  manage  that 
the  Spaniards  will  not  suspect  the  course  I  intend  to  pursue. 
This  will  not  be  difficult,  for  I  have  not  fixed  upon  it  myself." 
The  whole  hammering  and  attrition  stratagem  of  massing  so 
many  troops,  that  before  the  enemy  could  kill  them  all  he  would 
be  killed  himself,  with  which  Grant  is  now  known  to  have  ad 
vanced  from  Culpepcr  Courthouse,  enjoys  the  advantage  of  hav 
ing  been  definitely  proclaimed  for  the  first  time  on  the  22d  of 
July,  1865,  when,  on  no  other  rational  hypothesis,  could  Grant's 
series  of  repulses  be  wrought  into  a  consistent  scheme  of  victory. 
This  is  far  the  most  infallible  way,  both  to  prepare  and  to  predict. 
In  his  military  life  Grant  was  a  reserved,  silent  man,  and  deserv 
edly  owed  much  to  that. 

With  such  a  masterpiece  of  strategy  to  relieve  his  brain  of, 
after  some  hesitation  as  to  whether  he  would  cross  the  Rapidan 
above  Lee's  left  or  below  his  right,  the  Lieutenant-General  de 
cided  on  the  latter,  which  he  believed  would  force  Lee  back  to 
Richmond.  As  late  as  the  2d  of  May,  Field's  division  of  Long- 
street's  corps  had  been  ordered  to  the  north  of  Gordonsville,  to 
meet  an  expected  advance  of  the  enemy  by  way  of  Liberty  Mills. 
One  may  easily  speculate  as  to  what  might  have  been  the  result 
to  that  "Grand  Army,"  if  it  had  dared  to  try  a  flank,  which  for 
once  would  have  separated  it  from  gunboats  and  navigable  rivers. 
But,  more  judiciously,  Germanna  ford,  which  was  some  ten  or 
twelve  miles  below  our  right,  was  seized  on  the  night  of  the  3d 
of  May,  atnd  under  starlight  of  the  4th  Grant  moved  for  the 
lower  fords. 

The  reorganized  Army  of  the  Potomac  consisted  of  the  Second, 
Fifth  and  Sixth  corps,  under  Hancock,  Warren  and  Sedgwick, 
respectively,  who  reported  immediately  to  General  Meade.  Each 
corps  consisted  of  four  divisions.  The  cavalry,  numbering  over 
ten  thousand  sabres,  had  been  placed  under  Sheridan.  The 
Ninth  corps,  under  Burnside,  reported  immediately  to  Grant,  and 
also  comprised  four  divisions.  The  advance  to  the  Rapidan  was 
made  in  two  columns. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH     ROBINSON.  211 

Under  the  soft  light  of  the  stars,  bright  glancing  from  the  arms 
of  a  host  countless  as  the  stars,  the  grand  army  is  launched  into 
the  night.  Deep  in  the  sands  of  the  Rapidan  is  the  heavy  tramp 
of  two  columns,  as  the  sands  for  number.  Ah!  in  that  deep 
night  into  which  they  march  what  dreams  may  come!  into  that 
deep  silence  what  a  roar 'burst!  and  those  heavenly  fires,  soft- 
glancing  now  in  the  great  deep,  like  light-house  lamps,  be  the 
last  bright  thing  which  many  a  shipwrecked  man  shall  see! 

Warren's  corps,  preceded'  by  Wilson's  cavalry  division,  and 
forming  the  advance  of  the  right  column,  moved  from  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Culpeper  Courthouse  at  midnight;  reached  Ger- 
manna  ford  by  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th;  by  one 
o'clock  was  completely  over,  and  marching  six  miles,  bivouacked 
near  Old  Wilderness  tavern,  at  the  intersection  of  the  Germanna 
Ford  road  with  the  Orange  and  Fredericksburg  turnpike.  The 
cavalry  was  properly  disposed  to  prevent  surprise.  Sedgwick 
followed  Warren  in  the  afternoon,  and  encamped  close  to  the 
river.  Hancock,  who  led  the  left  column,  broke  up  camp,  near 
Stcvensburg,  advanced  to  Fly's  ford,  six  miles  lower  down,  pre 
ceded  by  Gregg's  division  of  cavalry,  and  by  nine,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  4th,  had  pushed  forward  to  Chancellorsville,  five  miles 
east  of  the  Old  Wilderness  tavern,  and  two  miles  east  of  the 
junction  of  the  Plank  road  and  Old  turnpike.  The  cavalry  was 
thrown  out  towards  Fredericksburg  and  Todd's  tavern. 

Burnside's  orders  were  to  hold  Culpeper  Courthouse  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  then  follow  the  other  corps.  The  morning  of 
the  5th  found  Grant  with  a  hundred  thousand  men  across  the 
Rapidan,  and  nearer  to  Richmond  than  'Lee,  on  the  direct  road 
from  Germanna  ford. 

Meade's  orders  for  May  5th,  I  864,  were  for  Sheridan  to  move 
with  Gregg's  and  Torbert's  divisions  against  the  Confederate 
cavalry,  in  the  direction  of  Hamilton's  crossing;  Wilson,  with 
the  Third  cavalry  division,  to  move  at  5  A.  M.  to  Craig's  meet 
ing-house,  on  the  Catharpin  road;  Hancock,  at  the  same  hour, 
to  take  up  his  line  of  march  for  Shady  Grove  church  (on  the 
Catharpin),  and  extend  his  right  towards  the  Fifth  corps,  at 
Parker's  store;  Warren  is  simultaneously  to  head  for  this  same 
Parker's  store,  on  the  Plank  road,  and  extend  his  right  towards 
the  Sixth  corps  at  Old  Wilderness  tavern.  To  the  last  mentioned 
point  Sedgwick  is  to  move  so  soon  as  the  road  is  clear.  Shady 
Grove  church  is  two  miles  east  of  a  road  which  connects  the 
Catharpin  with  the  Plank  road  at  Parker's  store.  After  first 
throwing  out  Griffin's  division  to  the  west,  on  the  turnpike,  to 
protect  Sedgwick,  who  was  to  come  up  after  him  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th,  Warren  pointed  his  van  in  conformity  to  orders.  13ut 


212  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

as  Crawford,  whose  division  was  leading,  approached  the  store,, 
he  met  the  cavalry  retreating  before  a  hostile  column  which  was 
pressing  down  the  Plank  road.  In  the  meantime,  Griffin  reported 
a  Confederate  force  on  the  turnpike.  This  was  about  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  Grant  and  Meade  were  riding,  and  pleasantly 
chatting,  with  their  staff  officers,  on  the  road  to  Old  Wilderness 
tavern,  when  a  message  to  this  effect  was  received.  An  hour 
later  Meade  was  saying  to  Warren:  "The  enemy  have  left  a 
division  to  fool  us  here,  while  they  concentrate  and  prepare  a 
position  towards  the  Northanna;  and  what  I  want  is  to  prevent 
those  fellows  from  getting  back  to  Mine  run."  Orders  were, 
therefore,  given  to  Warren  "to  brush  away  or  capture  the  force 
in  his  front."  But  Warren  had  stumbled  on  some  other  game 
than  a  fox  which  had  taken  to  the  cover.  Lee  had  fallen  back 
in  the  wrong  direction.  He  had  retreated  north.  Moreover,  he 
was  not  "fooling."  His  broad-shouldered  dead-lift  intended  the 
opposite.  He  meant  a  strain  from  "spur  to  plume."  He  was 
rushing,  fast  as  spavined  transportation  could  carry  him,  to  seize 
his  antagonist  by  the  throat;  and  the  hand  which  was  raised  to 
brush  him  away,  fell  shattered. 

Most  children  have  hung  with  delight  over  that  wonderful 
shrewdness  of  William  Wallace,  who,  when  he  was  on  one  side 
of  the  river  Forth,  and  the  Earl  of  Warren  on  the  other,  dared 
the  latter  to  cross;  and  who,  when  the  Warren  of  that  day, 
contrary  to  his  own  judgment,  was  pushed  into  doing  so  by 
Cressingham  the  Treasurer,  coolly  waited  until  one-half  of  the 
English  had  crossed  the  bridge,  and  then,  charging  with  his 
whole  army,  routed  the  Earl.  But  in  modern  times,  with  or 
without  bridges,  rivers  are  no  insuperable  barrier.  The  Danube 
is  navigable  as  far  as  Ulm,  and  along  its  navigable  length  varies 
in  width,  from  seven  hundred  and  sixty  to  upwards  of  two  thou 
sand  yards,  and  so  varies  in  depth,  in  the  course  of  twenty-four 
hours,  as  to  baffle  the  pilots  of  its  steamers.  But  at  Wagram, 
between  the  hours  of  three  and  six  in  the  morning,  Napoleon 
crossed  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  bank  with  an  army  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  infantry,  thirty  thousand  cavalry, 
and  six  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  while  the  Archduke  Charles 
was  furiously  (as  he  supposed)  repulsing  him  above.  The  mod 
ern  invader  has  a  portable  bridge,  which  he  can  throw  down,  at 
whatever  point  of  crossing  he  may  choose,  and  then,  by  concen 
trating  a  sufficient  weight  of  metal  at  that  point,  can  render  it 
impossible  to  dispute  effectively  his  passage.  Accordingly,  at  the 
first  battle  of  .Fredericksburg,  and  afterwards,  General  Lee  chose 
rather  to  select  positions,  with  a  view  to  resist  the  advance  of  the 
enemy,  than  incur  the  loss  which  would  attend  an  attempt  to 
prevent  his  crossing. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH     ROP.IXSOX.  213 

On  May  3d  it  was  known  that  the  Northern  army  was  about 
to  abandon  its  winter  quarters  and  move  as  it  did.  Orders  were 
issued  that  day  to  the  troops  to  be  prepared  with  three  days' 
cooked  rations  (which  a  special  Providence  gave  them  to  pre 
pare),  and  Grant  had  hardly  begun  to  march,  before  Lee  began 
his  countermarch.  Signal  fires  blazing  southward  from  Clarke's 
mountain  beat  the  wardrum  of  that  long  roll,  not  in  sound,  but 
in  light.  The  scene  survives  with  especial  vividness  in  my  mem 
ory,  because  the  battery  of  which  I  was  a  member,  and  which 
during  the  winter  had  been  on  picket,  suddenly  marched  out  and 
halted  on  the  side  of  the  road,  greeted  in  succession  the  hurry 
ing  commands,  while  waiting  for  its  own  to  arrive.  It  was  an 
army  of  comrades  which  was  marching  there,  where  each  com- 
mand'had  familiar  faces  for  each  other.  Playmates  of  boyhood, 
schoolmates  of  peace,  host  and  guest  of  other  days,  recognized 
one  another,  and  brothers  and  old  friends  shook  hands,  once 
more,  to  shake  hands  no  more  on  earth.  We  were  marching 
that  morning  to  fight  for  freedom  and  society.  To  fight  on  the 
side  of  the  true  cause  of  mankind  we  were  marching  there; 
against  the  rage  of  untried  speculation;  against  invasion  to  sub 
vert  the  frame  and  order  of  a  commonwealth,  by  the  corruption 
of  the  lower  with  the  spoliation  of  the  higher;  against  invasion, 
which'  was  none  the  less  vindictive  that  it  named  itself  friendship 
for  the  human  race.  \Ye  were  the  few  against  the  many,  and  we 
knew  it  as  we  marched  that  morning — happy  that  we,  too,  were 
to  be  seen  in  honor's  ranks — "we  few,  we  happy  few,  we  band  of 
brothers."  The  cheer  which  rang  out,  the  historic  Rebel  cheer, 
was  no  longer  the  cheer  of  sanguine  invincibility,  which  echoed 
for  the  last  time  on  the  slopes  of  Cemetery  hill,  but  something 
which  went  deeper — a  yell  of  defiance  from  men  who  had  cause 
to  fear,  and  for  themselves  defied  the  worst. 

Leaving  Early's  division  and  Ramseur's  brigade  to  watch  the 
fords  of  the  Rapidan,  Lwell,  whose  corps  consisted  of  Early, 
Johnson  and  Rodes  (in  all  fourteen  thousand  men,  Larly  says), 
crossed  Mine  run,  moving  on  the  Orange  and  Fredericksburg 
turnpike,  and  camped  on  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  at  Locust 
Grove,  about  five  miles  west  of  Old  Wilderness  tavern.  At  cS 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  Grant  was  counting  that  the  orders  which 
had  been  given  would  carry  his  army  clear  across  the  Wilder 
ness  by  the  evening  of  the  5th.  At  that  very  instant,  Lee's  left 
hand  was  feeling  through  the  jungle  for  the  collar  of  his  ad 
versary,  while  his  right  was  lifted  to  deal  his  heaviest  blow. 
Heth  and  Wilcox  moved  down  the  Plank  road  and  bivouacked 
the  evening  of  the  4th,  Heth  at  Mine  run  and  Wilcox  at  Vidiers- 
ville.  These  two  divisions  numbered  fourteen  thousand  men. 


214  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Anderson's  division  of  Hill's  corps  was  left  at  Orange  Court 
house  to  protect  our  trains  and  secure  our  rear,  with  instructions,, 
as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  there  would  be  no  movement  on 
the  part  of  the  enemy  in  the  direction  of  the  Courthouse,  to  join 
the  corps.  Longstreet,  marching  from  Gordonsville,  was  put  in 
motion  on  a  road  which  led  into  the  Catharpin.  On  the  )6th  of 
April,  Lee  had  written  to  General  Bragg:  "The  brigades  in 
motion  with  General  Longstreet  will  amount  to  about  nine  thou 
sand  men."  The  head  of  Ewell's  column  had  advanced  rather 
more  than  half  the  distance  from  Locust  Grove  to  Old  Wilder 
ness  tavern,  and  was  just  in  advance  of  the  point  where  a  road 
diverges  to  the  Germanna  Ford  road,  when  the  enemy,  in  heavy 
force,  was  encountered.  It  was  Warren  and  his  brush.  On  the 
side  of  Ewell,  Jones'  brigade  of  Johnson's  division  and  Battle's 
brigade  of  Rodes'  division  received  the  attack  of  these  troops, 
and  were  driven  back  in  confusion  by  it.  The  Second  Virginia 
brigade  was  broken  and  Jones  himself  killed  in  endeavoring  to 
rally  it — "the  gallant  J.  M.  Jones,"  as  General  Lee  called  him  in 
his  dispatch — who,  together  with  his  aid,  Lieutenant  Early,  pre 
ferred  death  to  retreat  in  that  supreme  emergency.  The  brigade 
had  been  placed  on  the  crest  of  a  gentle  slope,  its  right  resting 
on  the  turnpike;  Battle  supported  it  on  the  right — both  swept 
away.  This  was  Ewell's  van,  all  that  had  come  up,  which  was 
faring  thus  badly. 

Of  the  five  brigades  composing  Rodes'  division — Battle's, 
Dole's,  Ramseur's,  Daniel's,  and  R.  D.  Johnston's — the  latter  had 
been  sent  to  Hanover  Junction,  some  time  before,  to  prevent  a  cav 
alry  raid,  and  was  still  absent.  Ramseur  had  been  on  picket  at 
Morton's  ford,  and  had  not  yet  rejoined  his  command.  Battle 
had  just  given  way;  but  the  brigades  of  Daniel  and  Doles  imme 
diately  formed,  and  dashed  with  such  vigor  on  the  enemy  as  to 
arrest  and,  for  the  moment,  stagger  him  with  an  unexpected  blow. 
Ewell,  riding  back  to  hurry  up  his  troops,  one-legged  as  he  was, 
fairly  rose  in  his  stirrups  as  he  met  Gordon  riding  ahead  on  his 
black  charger,  and  knew  that  Early,  the  stout  old  Roman,  was  be 
hind.  "The  fate  of  the  army  depends  on  you,  General  Gordon," 
he  said.  Gordon  is  said  to  have  replied:  "We  will  save  the  day/ 
or  words  to  that  effect;  but,  what  is  of  more  importance,  in  acts 
to  that  effect  he  did  give  such  a  reply.  Eiling  to  the  left  in  the 
pine  thicket  he  halted,  fronted,  and  led  a  countercharge,  which, 
in  conjunction  with  Daniel  and  Doles,  broke  through  the  enemy's 
advancing  line,  and  Gordon  swept  to  the  rear.  The  fight  was  thus 
proceeding  when  Ramseur  came  up,  and  the  right  being  extended 
by  Gordon  and  himself,  an  advance  was  made,  and  Warren  was 
forced  back  at  all  points.  Ayres'  brigade  of  regulars,  on  the  right 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  215 

of  Griffin,  who  had  formed  across  the  turnpike,  was  driven  back 
by  our  left,  carrying  Bartlett's  brigade  with  it,  and  leaving  two 
guns  which  had  been  advanced  on  the  turnpike  to  take  advan 
tage  of  the  first  success.  Wadsworth,  in  moving  to  the  left  of 
Griffin,  instead  of  taking  a  course  due  west  from  the  Lacy  house, 
which  would  have  brought  him  on  the  prolongation  of  Griffin's 
line,  started  facing  northwest,  so  that  when  he  came  up  his  line 
of  battle  faced  the  turnpike  almost  at  right  angles  to  Ewell's, 
which  came  square  upon  Wadsworth's  flank  with  a  destructive 
fire,  throwing  it  back  in  confusion.  McCandliss'  brigade  of  Craw 
ford's  division,  which  was  to  the  left  of  Wadsworth,  was  sur 
rounded  and  driven  from  the  field,  with  the  loss  of  two  whole 
regiments.  Warren  had  designed  that  the  left  of  the  Sixth  corps 
should  sustain  his  own  right;  but  the  woods  in  their  jungle 
foueht  against  Warren. 

t~>  c"> 

Our  extreme  left,  occupied  by  the  Stonewall  brigade,  was  at  one 
time  overlapped  by  the  enemy.  The  personal  gallantry  and  skill 
of  Colonel  W.  W.  Randolph,  of  the  Second  Virginia  regiment,  sec 
onding  the  conspicuous  efforts  of  the  brigade  commander  (General 
Walker)  prevented  disaster  here.  Later  in  the  day  the  tall  form 
of  Randolph  and  all  the  courage  it  contained  was  laid  lo\v.  Gen 
eral  Stafford,  of  the  Louisiana  brigade,  was  also  killed.  After  the 
enemy  had  been  repulsed  Hays'  brigade,  and  still  later  Pegram's, 
was  sent  by  Early  to  Johnson's  left.  The  latter,  just  before  night, 
sustained  and  repulsed  a  heavy  attack,  in  which  Pegram  received 
a  wound  which  must  have  been  severe,  since  for  some  months  it 
detained  that  officer  from  the  field.  At  the  close  of  the  day 
Kwell's  corps  had  captured  over  a  thousand  prisoners,  besides 
inflicting  on  the  enemy  very  heavy  losses  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  capturing  two  pieces  of  artillery.  Gordon  occupied  the  posi 
tion  he  had  gained  on  the  right  till  after  dark,  when  he  was  with 
drawn  to  the  extreme  left.  Karly's  division — comprising,  in  the 
absence  of  Hoke,  the  brigades  of  Gordon,  Hays  and  Pegram — 
was  now  on  the  left  of  the  road  diverging  from  the  turnpike,  in 
extension  of  Johnson's  line.  Rodes  occupied  the  ground  he  had 
won,  his  left  resting  on  the  turnpike  in  contact  with  Johnson,  and 
his  right  in  the  air,  A.  P.  Hill  being  at  some  unknown  distance. 
Larly  in  the  morning  of  the  5th,  A.  P.  Hill's  two  divisions  had 
resumed  their  march,  Heth  leading.  They  soon  encountered  the 
enemy's  skirmishers — dismounted  cavalry.  A  regiment  was  de 
ployed  on  either  side  of  the  road,  and  heavy  skirmishing  con 
tinued  until  a  point  was  reached  on  the  Plank  road,  about  half  a 
mile  west  of  where  it  crosses  the  Brock  road  at  right  angles,  at 
which  the  enemy  refused  to  be  driven  any  farther  by  our  skirmish 
line.  At  this  point  Heth  deployed  his  division,  as  it  came  up,  in 


2l6  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

line  of  battle — three  brigades  to  the  right,  one  to  the  left,  of  the 
Plank  road  and  perpendicular  to  it.  Could  Lee  interpose  the 
head  of  his  column  between  Hancock  and  the  remainder  of  Grant's 
army,  while  Lonstreet,  moving  on  the  Cartharpin,  has  something 
to  say  to  Hancock!  But  it  was  not  to  be  in  any  part.  Spavined 
transportation  had  missed  the  junction  of  the  two  roads  by  half  a 
mile,  and  Hancock  had  hastily  returned  by  the  Brock  road,  in 
stead  of  marching  forward  on  the  Catharpin  and  hearing  from 
Longstreet  as  was  our  preference. 

Hancock,  whose  four  divisions — commanded  by  Barlow,  Gib 
bon,  Birney  and  Mott — numbered,  at  lowest  calculation,  twenty- 
seven  thousand  men,  bivouacked  at  Chancellorsville,  as  we  have 
seen.  On  the  morning  of  the  5th  he  had  advanced  about  two 
mijes  beyond  Todd's  tavern,  when,  at  9  A.  M.,  he  received  a  dis 
patch  from  Meade  to  halt,  as  the  enemy  were  in  some  force  on  the 
Wilderness  turnpike.  Two  hours  later  he  was  directed  to  move 
his  command  up  on  the  Brock  road,  to  its  intersection  with  the 
Orange  plank-road.  Hancock  rode  ahead,  found  Getty's  com 
mand  in  line  of  battle  on  the  Brock  road,  his  left  resting  near  the 
junction.  At  2  P.  M.  Birney  joined  Getty,  and  formed  on  his  left 
in  two  lines  of  battle.  Mott  and  Gibbon  came  up  rapidly,  and 
took  their  position  on  Birney's  left,  in  the  same  formation.  Bar 
low — with  the  exception  of  Frank's  brigade,  which  was  stationed 
at  the  junction  of  the  Brock  road  and  the  road  leading  to  the 
Catharpin  furnaces — held  the  left  of  the  line,  and  was  thrown  for 
ward  on  some  high,  clear  ground  in  front  of  the  Brock  road. 
Hancock  directed  all  the  artillery  of  his  command,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Dorr's  Maine  battery  and  one  section  of  Ricketts',  to 
be  placed  in  position.  Dorr's  battery  was  placed  in  position  in 
the  second  line  of  battle,  near  the  left  of  Mott,  and  the  section  of 
Ricketts'  was  sent  to  Getty  on  the  Plank  road.  Immediately  upon 
going  into  position  the  division  commanders  were  directed  to  erect 
breastworks,  which  they  did.  The  second  line  of  battle  threw  up 
breastworks  in  rear  of  the  first,  and  subsequently  a  third  line  was 
constructed  in  rear  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  divisions.  At  2:30 
P.  M.  Hancock  received  a  dispatch  from  the  chief  of  staff  of  the 
army  telling  him  that  a  portion  of  A.  P.  Hill's  corps  was  moving 
down  the  Plank  road,  had  driven  back  the  cavalry  from  Parker's, 
and  directing  him  to  unite  with  Getty  in  driving  back  A.  P.  Hill 
beyond  that  point;  then  to  occupy  it  and  unite  with  Warren's 
left,  which  was  said  to  extend  from  the  right  to  within  one  and  a 
half  miles  of  the  Plank  road  in  the  vicinity  of  the  store.  Between 
three  and  four  o'clock  he  was  ordered  to  attack  with  Getty's  com 
mand,  supporting  the  advance  with  his  whole  corps.  At  4:15  P. 
M.  Getty  moved  forward,  and  at  once  became  hotly  engaged. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  2 1/ 

Finding  that  Getty  had  met  the  enemy  in  force,  the  divisions  of 
Birney  and  Mott  immediately  moved  forward  on  his  right  and 
left.  At  4:30  P.  M.  Carroll's  brigade  of  Gibbon's  division  ad 
vanced  to  the  support  of  Getty's  right.  A  few  minutes  later 
Owen's  brigade  of  Gibbon's  division,  and  still  later  the  Irish  bri 
gade  and  the  Fourth  brigade  of  Barlow's  division  went  into  action 
and  attacked  vigorously.  The  section  of  Ricketts'  batter}-  on  the 
Plank  road  was  captured  and  recaptured. 

The  advances  and  attacks  just  narrated,  not  having  been  trans 
acted  in  the  depths  of  the  forest  merely  for  scenic  effect,  it  will 
be  surmised,  did  not  alight  quite  like  a  spent  ball  on  our  own 
troops.  About  half-past  three  o'clock,  or  a  little  later,  Lee  had 
sent  an  officer  of  his  staff  (Colonel  Marshall)  to  lleth  with  this 
message:  "General  Lee  directs  me  to  say  that  it  is  very  important 
for  him  to  have  possession  of  the  Brock  road,  and  wishes  you  to 
take  that  position,  provided  you  can  do  so  without  bringing  on  a 
general  engagement."  lleth  replied,  in  effect,  that  the  only  way 
to  find  out  whether  it  would  or  would  not  bring  on  a  general  en 
gagement,  was  to  make  the  attempt  to  take  the  position,  which  he 
would  make  if  desired.  Before  a  reply  could  be  received  he  was 
himself  attacked  with  great  fury.  \Ve  had  not  thrown  up  the  usual 
impromptu  breastworks;  we  were  in  a  body  of  woods,  studded 
thick  with  heavy  undergrowth.  The  enemy  was,  for  the  first 
time,  full\-  disclosed  when  within  about  ninety  yards.  He  was 
driven  back.  So  soon  as  the  first  attacking  column  could  be 
cleared  away,  a  second  column  advanced  to  share  the  fate  of  the 
first.  A  third,  a  fourth,  a  fifth  advanced.  These  assaults  were 
well  prepared  and  well  delivered.  The}'  were  not  victorious,  but 
no  one  can  say  the}'  were  ineffectual.  '1  he  equal  fierceness  of 
brave  men  was  locked  in  those  lonely  shadows.  The  issue  had 
come  to  this  simple  one:  who  can  stand  most  killing?  On  one 
side  of  such  an  issue,  lleth,  with  not  quite  seven  thousand  mus 
kets,  held  at  bay  for  nearly  two  hours,  Hancock  and  (jetty,  Han 
cock  alone  having  twenty- seven  thousand  muskets,  and  support 
ing  the  attack  with  his  whole  corps.  I  say  Heth;  it  should  be 
lleth  and  his  brigade  commanders — his  brigade  commanders  and 
the  men  the}'  commanded — all  welded  into  one  fierce  sword, 
whose  handle  rested  in  Heth's  grasp,  and  whose  temper  it  may 
well  be  his  pride  to  have  matched  with  his  own.  The  brigade 
commanders  were  Colonel  J.  M.  Stone,  Brigadier-General  John 
R.  Cooke,  Brigadier-General  II.  II.  Walker,  and  Brigadier-Gene 
ral  YY.  W.  Kirkland.  The  names  of  the  men  the}'  commanded 
I  cannot  give  you. 

When  the  head  of  Hill's  column  had  been  brought  to  a  halt, 
•  and  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  a  strong  force  was  in  his 


2l8  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

front,  which  a  strong  skirmish  line  could  no  longer  drive,  Lee 
naturally  felt  uneasiness,  at  the  separation  of  the  two  corps  of 
his  army,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  distance  separating  them. 
He,  therefore,  ordered  Wilcox,  who  came  up  after  Heth,  to  move 
through  the  woods  towards  the  Old  turnpike,  and  open  commu 
nication  with  Ewcll.  Wilcox,  after  advancing  through  the  forest 
nearly  half  a  mile,  came  to  a  field  of  about  that  width,  and  at  a 
house  several  hundred  yards  in  front  saw  a  small  party  of  the 
enemy.  Thirty  or  forty  were  captured — several  officers  among 
the  number.  From  this  house  was  a  good  view  of  the  Old  Wil 
derness  tavern,  and  the  enemy  could  be  seen  distinctly  near  it. 
This  fact  was  reported  to  General  Lee.  Leaving  two  of  his  bri 
gades  (McGowan's  and  Scales')  in  the  woods  near  the  field,  and 
reporting  this  also,  Wilcox  pressed  forward  in  search  of  Ewell's 
right.  Having  crossed  Wildnerness  run  and  reached  the  woods 
beyond,  in  a  field  to  the  right  and  front,  the  right  of  Gordon's 
brigade,  the  extreme  right  of  Ewell's  corps,  was  found.  Wilcox 
rode  up  to  Gordon,  but  had  barely  spoken  to  him  when  a  volley 
of  musketry  was  heard  in  the  woods,  into  which  his  brigades  had 
entered  but  a  few  minutes  before.  Riding  rapidly  to  the  woods, 
he  was  met  by  a  courier  from  General  Lee,  with  orders  to  return 
at  once  to  the  Plank  road,  in  consequence  of  the  attack  on  Heth 
by  the  enemy,  believed  to  be  in  great  force.  The  brigades  were 
recalled  at  once,  and  brought  back  with  them  some  three  hun 
dred  prisoners.  While  recrossing  the  open  field,  the  enemy  were 
seen  again,  this  time  moving  towards  the  Plank  road  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  musketry,  then  raging  furiously.  McGowan's  bri 
gade  had  already  been  ordered  into  the  fight.  Scales  was  in  the 
act  of  moving  forward  to  take  position  on  the  right  of  the  road, 
where  the  firing  was  heaviest.  The  great  interval  was  now  left 
to  take  care  of  itself. 

A  Missouri  newspaper  asserts  that  hogs  are  so  fat  in  Missouri, 
that,  in  order  to  find  out  where  their  heads  are,  it  is  necessary  to 
make  them  squeal,  and  then  judge  by  the  sound.  Heads  and 
fronts  of  offending  were  judged  of  by  similar  methods  that  after 
noon.  It  was  a  battle  in  a  tangled  chaparral  of  scrub  oaks  and 
chinquapins.  Only  at  short  distances  the  troops  engaged  could 
be  seen.  The  rattle  of  musketry  was  the  message,  as  to  where 
the  struggle  was  severest,  and  the  reinforcing  brigades  most 
needed.  Thus  guided,  the  third  brigade  of  Wilcox  (Thomas') 
went  in,  on  the  left  of  the  road,  to  take  position  on  Heth's  left. 
Thomas  reported  the  enemy  in  Heth's  rear,  became  engaged  at 
once,  and  fought  in  line  parallel  with  the  road.  Nelson,  in  the 
Bay  of  Aboukir,  told  his  sea  giants,  that  if,  in  the  foaming  wres 
tle  of  sea  monsters  and  ocean  gods,  in  which  they  were  about  to 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH     RO151XSOX.  2I(J 

grapple,  any  should  be  troubled  with  misgivings  as  to  the  pre 
cise  orders  of  the  day,  he  would  find  an  easy  way  out  of  his 
embarrassment,  by  simply  closing  with  an  enemy's  ship — a  sea- 
god's  order,  which  applies  to  all  sea  fights  before  and  since;  to 
land  fights  also;  to  life  itself,  indeed,  whose  great  order  for  every 
da)r  is  to  close  with  the  enemy's  ship,  and  sink  it,  if  such  a  thing 
can  be  done.  It  \vns  the  one  order  which  stood  any  chance  of 
fulfillment  in  the  blind  foam  and  wrestle  of  the  Wilderness.  Bri 
gade  after  brigade  was  led  into  its  depths  with  but  one  sure 
knowledge — to  resist  the  enemy,  whether  he  was  in  front,  whether 
he  was  on  the  flank,  whether  he  was  in  the  rear,  and  to  keep  on 
resisting.  Right  royally,  with  a  monarch's  disdain,  as  of  a  mon 
arch  on  a  burning,  sinking  throne,  the  sun  went  clown  upon  their 
wrath,  in  the  vapors  of  that  5th  of  May.  His  rich  handfuls  of 
crimson  and  gold  fell  among  the  vapors.  For  lie  went  clown  red; 
a  warrior  breathing  his  last,  and  shaming  the  foe  ere  he  expire, 
with  the  grand  scorn  of  a  splendid  eye.  And  many  a  warrior 
went  down  with  him.  The  South  was  one  clay  to  go  clown  like 
him.  Placid,  stately  clouds  played  upon  and  lit  up  with  noble, 
beautiful  expression,  sailed  tranquilly  over,  making  the  face  of 
things,  like  the  great  face  of  a  strong  mind,  beneath  which  great 
passions  are  raging.  Just  at  nightfall  the  enemy  made  a  supreme 
effort  to  crush  our  right.  Scales'  brigade  was  bent  back  almost 
at  right  angles  to  the  line.  To  hold  Scales  in  place  Hill  must 
send  for  his  last  brigade.  His  chief  of  staff,  Colonel  Palmer, 
finds  this  on  the  point  of  going  in  under  Wilcox,  further  to  the 
left,  where,  undoubtedly,  it  was  needed.  Hut  promptly  it  is  now 
brought  to  the  extreme  right,  where  it  is  more  needed.  The 
musketry  unloosed  by  this  brigade,  as  it  went  in,  reverberated 
through  the  woods  as  if  it  might  be  the  ordnance  of  a  fresh 
"Grand  Arm)'."  As  Colonel  Palmer  was  returning  to  the  road, 
after  the  brigade  was  well  under  fire,  he  met  Stuart  and  Colonel 
Venable  sitting  on  their  horses.  One  of  them  exclaimed:  "If 
night  would  only  come!"  "It  is  Lane's  brigade  going  in,"  said 
Colonel  Palmer;  "I  feel  assured  the  right  will  be  held  until 
night,"  and  Colonel  Venable  rode  off  to  say  as  much  to  the 
Commanding-General. 

All  this  time  the  interval  between  Kwell  and  Hill  had  been 
left  to  take  care  of  itself,  which  it  managed  to  do  with  marked 
ability.  There  was  Grant's — there,  at  least,  was  a  general's — 
opportunity.  One  body  suddenly  emerges  about  two  hundred 
yards  from  where  Lee,  Stuart  and  Hill  are  dismounted  and  lying 
down.  If  they  will  but  come  on  swiftly,  the  General  of  the  army, 
the  General  of  the  corps,  and  the  General  of  the  cavalry  are  their 
prisoners.  The  officer  in  command,  it  turns  out,  is  as  much 


22O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME, 

amazed  as  the  officers  he  has  surprised;  chooses  rather  to  be 
swift  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  as  the  Confederate  Generals 
jump  and  mount  in  hot  haste,  gives  the  command  "right  about," 
and  disappears  in  the  timber.  This  was,  indeed,  early  in  the  day; 
perhaps  before  a  shot  had  been  fired  in  the  battle  on  the  right. 
Almost  immediately  Heth's  men  were  thrown  forward.  But 
through  the  day  detachment  after  detachment  of  the  enemy 
stumbled  upon  and  stumbled  through  the  interval.  It  was  only 
necessary  to  do,  in  force  and  by  direction,  what  was  done  by 
accident  and  in  detachment,  and  the  Confederate  line  would  have 
been  hopelessly  cut  in  two.  It  was  such  an  opportunity  as  this 
which  Napoleon  seized  on  the  plains  of  Olmutz,  when  Soult,  at 
the  head  of  the  French  right  wing,  rushed  forward  upon  the 
interval  between  the  Austro-Russian  centre  and  left,  and,  inter 
secting  their  line,  severed  the  left  wing  entirely  from  the  centre. 
The  Sun  of  Austerlitz  burned  on  his  glowing  axle  as  that  was 
done.  Just  as  Lane's  brigade  went  in,  the  enemy  came  through 
this  interval  once  more.  We  had  no  reserves,  no  forlorn  hope 
left.  The  whole  army  was  the  forlorn  hope.  The  Fifth  Alabama 
battalion,  the  provost  guard  of  Hill's  corps,  then  guarding  pris 
oners,  and  numbering  about  a  hundred  men,  was  all  that  was 
available  to  meet  this  emergency.  With  a  thin  line  they  held 
whatever  was  in  front  of  them. 

Night  came  at  last.  To  battle  as  to  other  things  it  does  come. 
To  the  stiffened  sinew,  to  the  galled  shoulder,  to  the  bleeding  feet 
and  beating  heart,  it  comes.  But  it  did  not  come  till  after  eight 
o'clock  on  that  5th  of  May.  When  night  put  an  end  to  the  long 
strain,  the  two  divisions  on  our  right  sank  down  exhausted. 
Where  they  fought  there  they  sank  down.  And  well  they  might 
lie  down  to  the  warrior's  sleep  upon  the  warrior's  bed.  Brave 
men  had  marched  against  them,  strong  men  been  driven  back. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  the  end,  no  more  stubborn 
fight  was  made,  against  a  force  so  well  directed  and  overwhelm 
ing,  than  this  which  Heth  and  Wilcox  made.  Forty  thousand 
men  under  Hancock  had  been  launched  against  them  and  resisted, 
not  without  fearful  inroads  on  their  own  line,  if  line  it  could  now 
be  called.  The  right  and  left  were  bent  almost  at  right  angles 
to  the  front,  while  the  front  was  at  every  imaginary  angle.  The 
troops  of  the  enemy  going  for  water  would  walk  into  our  lines, 
and  our  men  into  theirs.  Brigades  and  regiments  crossed  each, 
other.  Some  brigades  of  Heth's  division  were  on  the  right, 
some  on  the  left  of  the  Plank  road.  Some  presented  a  flank  to 
the  enemy,  others  a  front.  The  alternate  charges  and  repulses 
of  a  battle  in  the  night,  and  that  night  in  the  Wilderness,  had  so 
confused  them. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  221 

Just  back  of  Heth's  line  on  the  left  of  the  Plank  road  was  an 
open  field  (the  same  in  which  Lee  and  his  Generals  were  so  near 
to  capture),  some  seventy-five  acres  in  extent,  and  running  from 
east  to  west,  perhaps,  five  hundred  yards.  In  this  field  Hill  had 
directed  guns  of  Poague's  and  Mclntosh's  battalions  to  be  put 
in  battery.  A  few  sticks  kindled  near  the  gun  nearest  the  road 
marked  the  headquarters  of  the  corps.  Thither  very  speedily 
Heth  came  to  report  the  position  and  condition  of  the  troops  and 
to  ask  permission  for  \Yilcox  and  himself  to  fall  back  in  order 
to  rectify  their  lines,  since  the  proximity  of  the  opposing  army 
prevented  a  forward  movement  for  that  purpose.  As  the  divisions 
were  situated,,  at  the  order  to  fire  they  were  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  firing  into  each  other.  "A  thin  skirmish  line,"  said 
Heth,  "can  whip  them  as -they  are."  But  Hill  said:  "No,  I  will 
not  have  the  men  disturbed.  Let  them  rest  as  they  are.  It  is 
not  intended  they  shall  fight  to-morrow.  Longstreet  is  now  at 
Mine  run.  General  Lee  has  ordered  him  to  move  at  12  o'clock- 
to-night.  He  has  only  eight  miles  to  march.  He  will  be  here 
long  before  day.  He  will  form  in  line  back  of  you  and  Wilcox. 
Your  divisions  will  fall  back  through  Longstreet's."  Wilcox 
went  to  Lee  himself  to  represent  the  condition  of  his  command. 
Lee  no  sooner  saw  him  than  he  said:  "A  note  has  been  received 
from  Anderson  saying'  he  will  bivouac  at  Vidiersville  to-night, 
but  I  have  ordered  him  forward.  He  and  Longstreet  will  both 
be  up  and  in  position  before  or  by  daylight,  when  you  will  be 
relieved."  Under  this  impression  \Yilcox  returned  without  hav 
ing  asked  permission  to  withdraw.  "Let  the  men  rest  for  the 
night,"  Hill  had  said — the  wearied,  hard-fought  men;  the  much 
indented  Heth-YYilcox  sword,  hacked  and  gashed  with  its  own 
hard  hewing,  and  bent  back  now  to  the  very  hilt,  with  hard  blows 
given  and  received.  LI  ill  did  not  believe  it  practicable,  in  the 
disorder  in  which  the  action  had  left  the  troops,  to  reform  his 
line  in  the  woods  and  serve  ammunition  before  daylight. 

V. 

On  the  5th  the  word  had  been,  "If  night  will  only  come!" 
On  the  6th  it  was,  "If  morning  will  only  stay!"  Longstreet 
must  be  there,  or  defeat  will  be  there.  \rou  remember  how  the 
lull  between  the  bloody  work  of  one  day  and  the  approximation 
of  another  is  a  thing  of  asperity.  The  stars  glance  down  with 
keen,  in  adversity  it  seems,  a  bitter  brightness.  Voices  of  the 
night,  the  loves  of  happy,  the  pulse  of  tender  creatures,  fall  like 
a  mockery  of  the  impending  storm.  The  kindness  of  the  clews 
becomes  unkind  to  the  soldier  turning  on  the  pillow  of  his 
bended  arm. 


222  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Early  in  the  morning,  Ewcll  rode  over  (probably  had  been 
sent  for)  to  see  Lee.  The  latter  was  seated  on  an  army  blanket 
spread  on  the  ground,  and  in  this  primitive  fashion  held  his 
divan.  Some  disturbance  breaking  out  at  a  distance  to  the  left, 
Lieutenant  Burwell,  who  accompanied  Ewell,  is  sent  to  find  out 
what  it  is.  On  the  return  of  the  latter,  he  discovers  that,  in 
riding  rapidly  through  the  woods,  he  has  lost  his  saddle  blanket, 
and  bestirs  himself  to  pick  up  some  substitute  therefor.  The 
instant  the  action  caught  the  eye  of  Lee,  he  sprang  up,  and 
offered  the  blanket  on  which  he  had  been  sitting,  which,  however, 
was  respectfully  declined.  "The  inborn  courtesy  of  the  man, 
which  no  preoccupation  of  mind  could  make  him  forget  for  a 
moment,  and  the  simple-hearted  kindness  of  the  action,"  writes 
my  correspondent,  "made  a  very  deep,  impression  on  me,  and  I 
have  never  forgotten  the  scene."  The  ability  to  maintain  the 
dignity,  while  putting  aside  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  a 
position,  seems  to  me  to  be  passing  away  with  the  older  school 
of  Virginia  gentlemen.  This,  however,  I  have  always  remarked 
in  General  Lee's  character  as  written,  and  as  shown  the  few  times 
I  was  in  his  presence." 

It  is  a  scene  which  deserves  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the 
country  of  Lee,  and  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  give  this  picture 
of  the  early  morn,  as  a  ray  of  night  fallen  in  the  darkness;  the 
peep  of  a  chivalric  day  shining  in  the  manner  of  its  captain — the 
thoughtful,  courteous  grace  of  a  commanding  mind.  No  foe  too 
mighty  for  his  prowess,  no  back  too  humble  for  his  pity.  The 
galled  shoulder  shall  have  his  own  blanket,  if  there  be  no  other — 
the  wide,  capacious  breast,  filling  with  sympathy  for  the  humblest 
sorrow,  even  when  in  act  to  shoulder  himself  the  galling  weight 
of  war,  with  "the  blanket  of  the  dark,"  his  one  blanket;  that 
now  worn  quite  threadbare.  The  true  knight  is  here.  "  No 
preoccupation  of  mind"  suffers  it  to  be  obscure.  The  dark 
ground  and  night  are  a  foil  for  its  beauty.  Let  prosperity  seize 
one  by  nature  "bound  in  shallows,"  and  bearing  him  on  a  tide 
"  taken  at  the  flood,"  clothe  him  in  purple,  throne  him  in  empire, 
place  a  sceptre  of  absolute  dominion  in  his  hand,  and  still  base 
ness  will  show  by  the  familiarity  of  its  approach,  how  little  that 
satrap  is  king  of  men.  On  the  other  hand,  take  Robert  E.  Lee, 
strip  him  of  house  and  home,  dress  him  in  the  soldier's  weather- 
beaten  rag,  seat  him  on  a  fence-rail  or  the  ground,  and  the  am 
bassadors  of  the  mightiest  king  will  do  homage  in  his  presence. 
Could  we  but  once  more  have  such  a  mirror  of  the  South! 
What  if  this  "little  touch  of  Harry  in  the  night"  define  our  own 
unworthiness? 

Early  on   the   morning   of  the   6th,  Burnside's    Ninth    corps 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  223 

arrived  on  the  field.  This  included  the  divisions  of  Stevenson, 
Potter,  Wilcox  and  Ferrero;  the  Provisional  brigade  under  Colo 
nel  Marshall;  the  reserve  artillery,  and  the  artillery  of  the  several 
divisions.  Stevenson  and  Ferrero  were  ordered  to  report  to 
Hancock  and  Sedgwick  respectively.  With  his  remaining  troops, 
Burnside  moved"  in  between  Warren  and  Hancock,  and  made  his 
dispositions  to  seize  Parker's  store.  By  dawn  of  the  6th,  the 
enemy's  line  of  battle,  facing  westward,  ran  north  and  south, 
without  a  gap,  for  about  five  miles. 

The  methods  by  which  a  strong  force  is  brought  into  the  field 
are,  in  importance,  second  only  to  the  conduct  of  it  when  there. 
Let  no  one  dream  that  natural  magic  and  inspiration  of  the 
moment  are  equal  to  such  achievement.  On  one  side,  what 
organization,  what  disposition  can  do,  is  now  done.  The  might)' 
columns  of  the  grand  army  have  moved  into  the  places  appointed 
for  them.  "Their  swords  are  a  thousand,  their  bosoms  are  one." 
"The  last  reason  of  kings"  is  in  place  to  give,  judgment.  If  the 
conclusion  follow  regularly  from  the  premises,  if  the  argument 
do  not  jump  clear  off  from  the  premises,  like  Seward's  letter  in 
the  Mason  and  Slidell  matter,  victonvis  the  ultimatum.  Yet  in 
this  trial-fire  of  war,  holding  a  future  hell-fire  of  reconstruc 
tion,  what  contingences  are  still  in  doubt,  some  one  of  which 
may  make  the  final  judgment  swerve!  In  ever)'  voyage  of  life, 
wherever  the  sail  be  spread,  there  is  but  a  plank,  and  that  the 
narrowest,  between  preservation  and  destruction.  The  event  of 
time  mathematically  adjusts  itself,  on  an  even  keel,  to  the  great 
deep  of  eternity,  which  holds  it,  as  in  the  hollow  of  a  hand;  a 
hand  which  will  close  a  fist  of  iron  on  the  first  open  seam,  which, 
improvident  of  pitch  and  oakum,  springs  a  leak.  Between  Sam 
son's  strength  and  Samson's  weakness  is  but  the  difference  of  a 
hair.  For  the  present,  on  one  side,  the  miracle,  which  organiza 
tion  and  discipline  perform,  has  been  wrought.  The  sword  of  a 
hundred  thousand  is  in  the  hand  of  one.  The  monster  faner 

o 

which  the  wand  of  society  evokes,  when  the  game  is  an  empire's 
neck,  has  uncoiled  its  huge  length  in  continuous  battle  front, 
whose  units  of  length  are  miles.  By  dawn ! 

Some  of  you  have  been,  no  doubt,  on  one  of  our  Southwest 
ern  bayous,  or  some  similar  spot,  where  the  first  notification  of 
day,  in  that  darkest  hour  which  precedes  the  dawn,  was  the  lull 
of  the  wolf's  long  howl ;  in  place  of  which  there  came  as  herald 
of  breaking  day  the  trill  of  every  songster  in  the  woods,  like  the 
different  and  successive  notes  of  some  musical  instrument;  the 
sparrow's  twitter,  the  thrush's  warble,  the  mocking-bird's  wild 
lute;  and  jay-bird  and  cat-bird,  and  hawk  and  heron,  the  ducks 
and  the  shrill  cranes,  the  garrulous  squirrels  and  the  meek  doves 


224  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

mixed  their  concords  and  their  discords  in  a  hymn  to  sunrise — 
and  far  above  the  song  of  the  songster,  the  scream  of  the 
screamer,  and  the  flight  of  the  high-flyer,  the  silent  wing  of  the 
solitary  eagle,  a  music  in  itself.  Yet  all  this  Sabbath  song  and 
sight  is  the  outward  mask  of  universal  and  ceaseless,  death-deal 
ing  strife.  The  battle  of  night,  between  deer  and  wolf,  has  ended, 
and  the  batttle  of  day,  between  bird  and  fish  and  worm,  has  be 
gun.  The  proverbially  early  bird  has  quit  his  nap  betimes.  The 
little  fish  are  making  fountain  jets  in  the  air,  in  their  terrified 
leap  from  the  big  ones.  This  is  nature  waking  up.  Or  if  it  has 
been  your  lot  to  walk  into  some  great  city  as  day  was  breaking, 
you  have  noted  as  the  first  sign  of  waking  the  day  laborers  leav 
ing  the  town  to  work  in  the  country,  or  the  country  to  work  in 
the  town,  the  hucksters  and  the  first  choppings  of  the  butcher 
stalls,  then  the  earliest  rumblings  of  carriages  and  street  cars, 
the  waking  flutter  by  candlelight  in  the  humbler  tenements,  fol 
lowed  by  the  appearances  of  the  servants  at  the  doors  of  the 
greater  ones,  and  in  between  the  waking  of  the  shanty  and  the 
mansion,  the  steaming  up  of  foundry  and  factory,  like  the  snort 
of  some  great  animal;  then-  the  throwing  open  of  window-blinds, 
the  parade  of  shop-windows,  the  bustle  of  traffic,  the  whirl  and 
tumult  of  an  eager,  hurrying  multitude.  You  have  watched  a 
great  city,  like  a  mighty  leviathan  turn  and  toss  itself  on  its 
couch,  slowly  hurl  its  huge  limbs  out  of  bed,  and  finally  yawn, 
and  stretch,  and  shake  its  eyes  wide  open.  You  have  seen  civili 
zation  wake  up — the  peaceful,  thriving  scene.  But  again  the 
peaceful  picturesqueness  is  .the  outward  mask,  nay  the  outward 
expression  of  interminable  strife.  Civilized  man  has  not  ceased 
to  say  to  his  brother,  "  My  life  or  thine."  Ever  mortal  is  the 
listed  space,  unseen  but  not  unrealized  to-day,  wherein  one 
strength  says  to  another,  "  With  my  body  against  yours,  will  I 
make  good  my  challenge."  Still  is  every  coigne  of  vantage 
warred  for  and  against  with  sleepless  enmity.  He  who  holds 
his  own  does  so  with  a  continual  stroke.  The  inapt,  the  inert, 
the  dissolute  must  serve  the  wary  and  active,  or  be  slain  and 
consumed.  As  the  vinedresser  says  to  the  wood,  whose  strength 
he  means  to  throw  into  his  main  clusters,  "You  dare  to  wear  the 
purple,  you  shall  not  bear  a  leaf,"  so  another  scythe  with  as  sharp 
a  blade.  Civilization  changes  the  coarseness,  but  not  the  rancor 
of  the  strife.  Our  great  civilizers  are  our  great  destroyers,  prove 
their  fitness  to  survive,  by  being  fittest  to  destroy.  The  pyramid 
of  skulls  has  undergone  evolution,  like  other  things,  but  the 
principle  of  it  has  proved  no  such  function  in  excess  as  to  be 
come  extinct  by  natural  selection. 

The   strength   of  the   nineteenth    century   is   the   strength   of 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  225 

science,  trained  method,  logical  forecast  of  events,  more  vivid 
combination  of  details,  and  more  intrepid  grasp  of  the  future, 
powers  to  discern  and  powers  of  adjustment  to  far-off  corre 
spondences  of  time  and  space.  More  and  more  strength  reveals 
itself  as  certain  calculation,  clear,  orderly  arrangement,  iron  logic 
of  deduction.  The  man  of  business  is  clearer,  and  because  clearer 
more  decided,  resolute  than  others.  Others  take  shelter  under 
him,  as  formerly  under  the  warrior's  hand  of  mail.  Lands  and 
tenements,  translated  by  his  shrewd  sagacity,  as  by  the  magician's 
wand,  float  to  him  from  others  who  have  not  his  gifts.  Ransom 
of  steeds  and  armor  won  in  the  encounter  of  arms,  the  encounter 
of  wits,  he  bears  off  on  the  point  of  a  sharper  sense.  When 
riches  take  to  themselves  wings,  he  is  there  to  pursue.  Swift, 
penetrating  common  sense  sits  on  his  strength,  like  falcon  on 
the  arm.  Is  some  object  of  desire  started,  like  lightning  he  flies 
his  hawk  at  the  game,  to  bring  it  clown.  Is  resistance  made, 
stout  fight,  which  requites  scorn  for  scorn  and  beak  for  beak? 
With  the  falcon  glare  and  grip,  the  stronger  talon  rips  out  the 
heart  of  a  foe.  Nineteenth-century  victories  are  business  vic 
tories,  won  less  in  the  day  of  actual  fight  than  in  the  day  of 
training.  The  battle  is  the  preparation  for  it,  with  all  the  sciences, 
economies,  disciplined  intensity  and  virtue  of  a  people.  The 
rank  and  file  which  rushes  to  the  charge  is  the  seal  and  measure 
of  what  has  been  done,  as  on  commencement  clay  prizes  are  be 
stowed,  not  for  the  present,  but  the  past.  He  who  has  trained, 
equipped  himself  the  best,  who  has  most  purged  himself  from 
all  weak  or  dark  infirmity,  untenable,  unsound,  ungoverned  ways, 
all  charlatanry  and  sham,  then  fronts  his  adversary,  with  know 
ledge,  discretion,  sound,  uncorrupt  manhood,  the  cool  head,  the 
stead}'  hand,  he  is  fittest  to  survive.  With  quiet  collected  strength, 
he  compels  the  agencies  of  land  and  sea  to  be  his  servants. 
Steamship  and  railway,  all  the  enginery,  all  the  deviltry  of  com 
merce  bend  obediently  to  him,  grow  pliant  as  soft  wax  under  his 
pressure.  Even  the  winds  and  the  waves  obey  him.  As  we 
grasp  one  handle  to  hew  another,  he,  the  true  Briareus,  stands  at 
the  end  of  a  long  line  of  levers  and  thermo-electric  multipliers, 
and,  with  clear  common  sense  for  fulcrum,  hundred-handed 
moves  a  world. 

Of  the  form  of  this  modern  world  and  the  fashion  of  its 
strength,  science  is  the  glass  and  the  mould,  holding  the  mirror 
up  to  the  meridian  lines,  which  Nature  has  drawn  for  a  world. 
Nature's  adjutant  calls  the  roll  of  Nature's  "  Invincibles,"  with 
unsheathed  sward,  calls  attention  to  that  "Old  Guard"  of  Nature 
which  neither  dies  nor  surrenders;  about  which  society  forms  in 
hollow-square,  or  kicking  against  which  by  sheer  persistence  of 


226  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

force,  society  is  impaled  and  eliminated.  Pitiless,  appalling, 
almost  beautiful  with  that  beauty  which  Milton  says  has  terror 
in  it— as  bright,  deadly  steel,  flashing  in  the  sun  is  beautiful— 
this  wide  remorseless  warfare,  wherein  difficult  victory  is  the 
price  of  all  existence.  Brute  animal  life  is  compelled  to  discrimi 
nate,  to  find  and  keep  the  environment  which  is  safe  for  it,  wise 
for  it,  or  else  cease  to  exist.  The  wild  animal  cannot  wear  a 
Joseph's  coat  of  many  colors  as  the  tame  one  does.  Prudence, 
and  the  vigilance  of  adversaries  seeking  whom  they  may  devour, 
forbid  this.  The  partridge  must  be  like  the  straw  which  hides 
the  partridge,  the  brown  and  yellow  autumn  straw.  Partridges 
of  another  color  are  quickly  discovered  and  destroyed.  At  last 
this  becomes  the  only  color,  the  sole  banner  partridges  can  fight 
under.  Or  strength  in  the  form  of  a  lion  falls  on  fleetness  in 
the  shape  of  the  antelope.  Starvation  behincl,  speed  like  that  of 
a  bird  in  front!  Only  the  strongest  lions,  the  swiftest  antelopes 
live.  Animal  life  clothes  itself  with  the  element  it  lives  in,  takes 
traits  from  that,  becomes  that.  And  must  not  man  too  find  the 
banner  he  can  fight  under,  which  is  the  same  as  the  banner  he  is 
ready  to  die  under?  For  him  too  must  not  the  greatest  victories 
be  gained  by  not  exclusively  safe  paths;  "amid  the  confused 
noise  of  warriors,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood,"  not  where  the 
baggage  trains  are  guarded? 

Onward  sweeps  force,  stern,  avenging,  having  mercy  on  whom 
it  will  have  mercy,  suffering  only  fitness  to  survive — the  multitu 
dinous,  majestic,  all-enveloping  force  of  a  universe,  on-sweeping, 
divinely  fair,  divinely  terrible! 

With  Nature  to  be  weak,  is  not  to  be  miserable  alone,  it  is  to 
be  criminal.  The  penal  statutes  go  unrepealed  on  Nature's  stat 
ute  book.  For  the  highest  there  is  ceaseless  tension  and  toil; 
no  height  of  character  attained  without  much  difficult,  much 
painful  breathing.  Look  into  the  faces  of  the  saints  who  have 
lived,  of  the  martyrs  who  have  bled  for  mankind,  of  the  artists 
who  have  wrought  to  express,  the  heroes  who  have  fought  to 
maintain  the  truth,  see  how  they  are  written  over  with  the  lofty 
silence  and  battle-pain  of  life!  Ah,  yes!  they  have  broken  their 
bitter  fast  on  the  bread  and  wine  of  sorrow,  the  food  of  the  im 
mortals,  the  cup  which  Gods  have  given,  and  Godlike  men  have 
quaffed.  The  clouds  which  close  around  them  are  made  their 
chariots  of  fire,  and  the  portion  of  life,  sworn  foe  to  cant,  is  still— 
the  cross!  What  should  fervent  soundness  be,  but  ratsbane  to 
the  sweet  tooth  of  a  trimmer? 

But  that  here,  in  this  dark  wood,  such  a  storm  of  rifles,  making 
the  earth  quake,  should  hang  in  the  air,  ready  to  be  touched  off 
by  the  first  light  of  a  May  morning!  As  it  were,  "the  erroneous 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  22/ 

wood  of  this  life"  and  "the  dark  battle  of  them  who  see  not 
beyond  it"!  To  the  hillsides  and  winding  gullies,  where  the 
woodsman  axe  has  rarely  or  never  wrung,  and  only  the  hunts 
man's  hounds  waked  the  echoes,  order  has  come  at  last — the 
order  of  battle!  Elsewhere,  at  this  hour,  the  farmer  is  winding 
his  horn  from  open  window.  The  plow-boy  is  gearing  up  his 
team,  and  soon  the  slices  will  roll  over  from  the  mould-board, 
and  new  furrows  be  shining  in  the  peaceful  glebe!  And  the 
sower  goes  forth  to  sow,  hoping  (in  such  times,  against  hope)  to 
reap  in  turn.  The  kine  are  lowing.  It  is  the  legendary  hour, 
when  the  pretty  milk-maid,  hiding  her  blushes  in  her  pail,  with 
fresh  sunlight  in  her  eye,  hears  from  her  lover  "the  old,  old 
story."  Not  often  witnessed  in  our  land,  at  this  early  hour,  I 
believe,  but  at  other  hours  very  often  witnessed — the  soft,  rosy 
flush  of  daybreak  and  young  wonder,  life's  rosy  aurora,  drawn 
about  young  life.  And  wherever  in  our  land  such  life  waked  that 
morning,  it  breathed  a  prayer  for  some  friend,  or  brother,  or  more 
than  brother,  in  the  Wilderness.  There  "busy  hammers"  have 
been  "closing  rivets  up."  The  sergeants  are  now  roused,  and 
are  shaking  up  their  detachments.  In  an  instant,  a  breath  "like 
a  stream  of  brimstone"  will  kindle  "the  fiery,  flying  serpent," 
and  loud  death-blast.  Hut  for  the  instant  there  is  stillness — "the 
torrent's  smoothness,  ere  it  dash  below"!  On  the  very  brink 
scarce  a  ripple  to  be  seen,  and  then  the  pit  of  Hell! 

Burnside  is  up,  we  have  seen.  Longstreet  and  Anderson  are 
not  up. 

Lee  had  gone  into  the  fight  having  on  the  ground  not  more 
than  twenty-eight  thousand  muskets,  all  told.  With  this  small 
force  (diminished  by  the  losses  of  the  day  before),  and  with  the 
view  of  diverting  the  blow  about  to  descend,  from  the  point 
where  he  was  least  prepared  for  it,  he  himself  renews  the  fight 
on  E well's  front,  striking  Grant  on  his  right  flank  (Seymour's 
brigade),  and  involving  the  whole  of  two  divisions  (Rickett's  and 
Wright's).  In  vain,  however.  The  anticipated  blow  descends 
according  to  orders  ("attack  along  the  whole  line  at  five  o'clock") 
a  few  minutes  later. 

On  the  4th  Longstreet  was  advised  by  the  Commanding-Gene 
ral  that  the  enemy  appeared  to  be  moving  towards  Stevensburg. 
In  conformity  with  orders,  Longstreet  gets  his  men  upon  their 
legs  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  marches  to  Brock's 
bridge,  on  the  border  of  Orange  county,  bringing  Kershaw  over 
some  fourteen  miles,  from  Gordonsville,  and  Field  some  sixteen, 
from  Liberty  Mills.  On  the  morning  of  the  5th  he  resumes  his 
march,  and  goes  into  camp  that  evening  near  Richards'  shop,  on 
the  Catharpin  road,  twelve  miles  from  his  point  of  starting,  and 


228  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

six  or  seven  miles,  by  a  road  through  the  woods,  from  Parker's, 
store.  During  the  latter  part  of  this  day's  march,  Rosser  was 
skirmishing  in  front  with  his  brigade  of  cavalry. 

During  the  night  Hancock  was  informed  that  his  right  would 
be  relieved  by  General  Wadsworth,  of  the  Fifth  corps,  and  two 
divisions  of  the  Ninth  corps,  under  Burnside,  and  cautioned  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  his  left.  Before  five  A.  M.  he  received 
word  that  Longstreet  was  moving  on  the  Catharpin  road  to  fall 
upon  his  left,  and  Barlow's  division  was  placed  in  position  to  re 
ceive  him  at  the  point  it  was  supposed  he  would  advance.  But, 
whatever  had  been  Lee's  first  intentions  for  Longstreet  on  the 
Catharpin,  at  12:30  A.  M.  on  the  6th,  the  latter  General,  by  Lee's 
orders,  started  for  Parker's  store.  Arriving  there  about  dawn, 
he  was  directed  to  press  on  at  once  to  relieve  Heth  and  Wilcox. 
He  had  some  two  miles  still  to  march.  A  Confederate  line  hope 
lessly  outnumbered  and  outflanked  desperately  awaited  him. 

A  little  before  daybreak,  fearing  he  would  be  attacked  before 
he  could  be  relieved,  Wilcox  ordered  the  pioneers  to  fell  trees  to 
make  an  abatis,  but  the  pioneers  were  fired  on  and  could  not  con 
tinue.  He  looked  up;  the  tops  of  the  trees  had  caught  the 
morning  red.  Then  he  sat  watching  the  east,  as  the  veins  of  day 
throbbed  across  the  morning.  Heth,  too,  "agitated  by  an  anxiety 
such  as  he  never  felt  before  or  afterwards,"  finally  determined  to 
lay  matters  before  Lee;  searched  for  him  two  hours  in  vain;  then 
walked  up  and  down  in  rear  of  his  troops  until  he  fancied  he  saw 
day  breaking,  when,  ordering  his  horse,  he  went  at  full  speed 
down  the  road— but  no  Longstreet!  In  despair  he  returned  to 
his  troops.  Day  had  fairly  broken. 

No  one  slept  that  night -at  Hill's  headquarters.  Before  day 
the  horses  were  saddled.  As  day  broke,  and  nothing  was  heard 
of  Longstreet,  the  suspense  was  insupportable.  All  knew  the 
two  divisions  would  give  way,  if  attacked,  and  all  knew  they 
would  be  attacked.  Leaving  his  Chief  of  Staff  beside  the  smoul 
dering  sticks,  where  the  night  had  been  spent,  Hill,  with  the  rest 
of  his  staff,  rode  to  the  left  beyond  the  guns.  He  was  hardly 
out  of  view  when  Longstreet  galloped  on  the  field,  but  to  the 
questions  which  were  quickly  put  to  him,  he  replied,  "  My  troops 
are  not  yet  up.  I  have  ridden  ahead  to  find  out  the  situation." 
As  he  spoke  his  voice  was  drowned  in  the  roar  of  musketry. 

Believing  resistance  to  be  futile  in  such  formation  as  he  had, 
Heth  ordered  his  brigade  commanders  to  take  their  men  to  the 
rear  as  fast  as  possible.  In  effect,  the  men  were  ordered  to  run, 
and  the  signs  are  they  obeyed,  with  all  the  means  which  God 
and  nature  had  put  into  their  feet.  If  they  did  not  severally 
show  a  clean  pair  of  heels,  it  is  partly  to  be  ascribed  to  the  fact 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  229 

th^t  the  same  were  not  there  to  be  shown.  For  awhile  it  looked 
as  if  we  were  about  to  prevail  over  the  enemy,  as  our  ancestors 
beat  the  British  at  Bladensburg — "in  the  long  run." 

The  circle  of  attack  soon  closed  around  \Yilcox.  Beginning 
on  his  right,  in  a  few  minutes  it  was  raging  all  along  his  front 
and  on  both  flanks.  "  It  was  only  a  question  of  time,"  says  \Yil- 
cox,  "how  long  my  men  could  hold  their  ground.  At  length 
the  men  were  seen  giving  way,  but  not  in  disorder."  VVilcox 
rode  rapidly  to  Lee,  not  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
troops  then  engaged.  Lee  said  to  him,  "  Longstreet  must  be 
here;  go  bring  him  up."  Dashing  to  the  road  to  see  if  he  was 
in  sight,  \Yilcox  met  the  head  of  Kershaw's  division.  This  he 
directed  to  file  to  the  right  of  the  road  and  form  line  as  quickly 
as  possible,  for  fear  his  own  men  might  be  forced  back  upon 
Kershaw  before  he  could  get  into  position;  which  is  what  did 
very  speedily  happen.  Our  whole  line  was  coming  back  like  a 
wave.  There  were  at  this  time  two  batteries  on  the  left  of  the 
road.  General  Hill  rode  along  the  line  of  these  guns,  directing 
them  how  to  fire,  which  they  were  compelled  to  do,  while  some 
of  our  own  men  were  in  the  path  of  their  projectiles.  It  was 
said  of  the  Turks,  in  the  Crimean  war,  that  a  wise  instinct  taught 
them,  that,  if  there  was  one  thing  which  ought  not  to  be  left  to 
fate  or  to  the  precepts  of  a  deceased  prophet,  it  was  the  artillery. 
With  steadiness,  opening  their  ranks  to  let  the  retreating  troops 
through,  Kershaw's  division  formed  line  of  battle  on  the  right, 
each  brigade  forming  separate!}'  under  fire,  in  a  dense  thicket, 
which  rendered  it  impossible  to  see  either  the  character  or  num 
bers  of  the  foe  the}'  were  to  resist. 

Hennegan  was  thrown  on  the  right,  and  the  Second  South 
Carolina  regiment  deployed  and  pushed  forward  on  the  left  of  the 
road.  Almost  immediately  the  enemy  was  upon  them.  I  lenne- 
gan  having  passed  sufficiently  to  the  right  to  admit  of  the  deploy 
ment  of  General  Humphreys  to  his  left,  this  formation  was  made 
in  good  order  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  who  had  so  far  pene 
trated  between  Hennegan  and  the  road  as  to  almost  enfilade  the 
Second  South  Carolina  and  the  batteries  holding  the  left.  Hum 
phreys  was  pushed  forward  as  soon  as  he  got  into  position,  and 
Bryan's  brigade  coming  up,  was  ordered  into  position  to  Henne 
gan  's  right. 

The  two  batteries  on  the  left  of  the  road  had  opened  at  the 
critical  instant  of  the  day.  Their  fire  had  the  desired  effect  of 
checking  the  enemy  momentarily.  That  moment  was  decisive. 
Longstreet,  arriving  so  late  but  so  opportunel}',  had  time  to  form. 
General  Lee  now  appeared  on  the  left  leading  Hood's  old  bri 
gade.  Longstreet  had  just  filed  two  brigades  in  rear  of  the 


23O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

guns,  and  riding  slowly  along  their  front,  as  they  came  into  line,, 
had  cautioned  them  to  keep  cool,  and  gave  them  his  own  exam 
ple.  As  the  Texas  brigade  moved  through  the  guns,  General 
Lee  rode  on  their  flank,  and  raising  his  hat,  saluted  them  as  old 
friends  who  had  too  long  been  parted,  and  said  aloud  he  would 
lead  them  himself.  The  fine  eye  of  Lee  must  often  have  glis 
tened  with  something  better  than  a  conqueror's  pride,  whenever 
he  recalled  the  cry,  with  which  that  veteran  rank  and  file  sent 
him  to  the  rear  and  themselves  to  the. front.  The  name  of  that 
warlike  man,  who  stepped  out  from  the  ranks  to  seize  the  bridle 
of  Traveler,  and  force  him  and  his  rider  back  from  the  battle 
shower,  I  cannot  give  you.  A  tall,  gaunt  figure,  clad  in  rags,  and 
the  lightbeams  of  a  beautiful,  heroic  splendor,  rises  before  us  for 
an  instant,  and  then  perishes  out  of  view,  as  the  truly  great  are 
wont  to  perish — their  very  names  forgotten,  or  known  only  to 
God;  their  deeds  and  the  fruit  of  them  imperishable.  Lee  was 
stopped;  he  and  his  horse  reined  in,  while  the  men  cried,  "We 
will  go  forward,  but  you  must  go  back."  So  said,  so  acted,  these 
Texas  men,  loving  a  higher  than  themselves  better  than  them 
selves,  this  their  last  feeling.  It  was  a  fine  old  gladiatorial, 
morituri  te  salutainns,  only  finer  in  that  it  was  freer,  for  altars  and' 
for  hearths,  not  for  a  Roman  holiday.  They  flung  their  caps  into 
the  air,  and,  with  a  shout  which  was  their  stern  farewell,  swept 
onward.  Their  front  was  to  the  east  as  they  took  their  last  gaze 
of  this  earth.  Sunrise  was  shining  in  their  faces  as  their  own 
sun  set.  The  smile  of  that  May  morning  kissed  their  faces  as 
they  fell.  The  rising  sun  was  their  winding-sheet.  Savages,  I 
am  told,  these  Texans  were.  There  was  nothing  savage  in  their 
chivalry. 

Longstreet's  first  order  to  Field  was  to  form  line  of  battle  on 
the  right,  perpendicular  to  the  road.  Field  thereupon  threw 
Anderson's  brigade,  which  \vas  leading,  in  line  to  the  right.  But 
before  it  could  be  followed  up  by  the  others,  a  second  order  came 
to'  form  in  the  quickest  order  possible,  and  charge  with  any  front. 
Throwing  Gregg's  Texas  brigade  on  the  left  of  the  road,  as  has 
been  stated,  and  Benning  behind  Gregg,  and  Law  behind  Ben- 
ning,  and  Jenkins  behind  Law,  Field  slipped  the  leash.  He  had 
but  to  point  to  the  enemy.  The  Texas  brigade  dashed  forward 
as  soon  as  it  was  formed,  without  waiting  for  the  brigades  in  the 
rear.  Ignorant  of  what  was  in  front  of  them,  the  view  being 
obstructed  by  a  slight  rise  and  some  scattered  pines,  the  enemy 
came  on. 

At  the  instant  there  was  nothing  there  to  oppose  him  but 
Gregg's  Texans,  less  than  five  hundred  strong.  Flanked  on  both 
sides,  these  struck  him  a  staggering  blow  full  in  the  face,  these 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBIXSOX.  23! 

forced  him  back — but  with  a  loss  of  two-thirds  of  their  own 
number  killed  and  wounded  in  ten  minutes.  Later  in  the  cam 
paign,  and  after  some  recruiting  had  taken  place,  Secretary  Rea 
gan  went  out  from  Richmond  to  visit  the  brigade,  and  reported 
that  it  averaged  two  and  two-fifths  wounds  to  a  man.  Some  com 
panies  were  entirely  obliterated.  One  company  for  months  had 
on  duty  but  a  single  man,  a  lieutenant — all  the  rest  killed  or 
wounded  at  the  Wilderness!  Onward  sped  the  Texas  whirlwind, 
till  it  whirled  itself  into  a  thincf  of  shreds  and  tatters;  hanmn<i 

o  o        tr> 

together  at  the  last,  like  the  limbs  of  a  body,  adhering  by  the 
skin,  after  the  bone  has  been  crushed.  They  closed  up  their 
ranks  over  their  comrades  as  they  fell,  till  there  was  no  longer  a 
rank  or  a  comrade  to  close.  No  laureled  Six  Hundred  ever 
charged  more  nobly  than  these  Five  Hundred.  Glorious  is  it, 
and  glorified  ever,  when  a  \Yinkelried  gathers  the  indomitable 
spears  into  his  arms,  and  says  to  liberty  at  his  back,  "Forward 
over  me" — ransoms  his  army  by  his  own  immolation!  Even  so 
these  Texans  made  their  bosoms  a  sheath  for  the  thunderbolt. 
They  buried  defeat  on  the  field,  under  a  mound  of  their  own 
corpses.  They  stepped  to  the  graves  of  martyrs  with  the  grace 
of  courtiers.  They  had  but  an  instant  to  think  and  to  act,  and 
they  made  it  one  of  imperishable  beaut}*.  The  long  track  of 
light,  which  followed  in  the  wake  of  their  valor,  they  did  not, 
could  not  see.  Their  Wilderness  was  then;  their  Promised  Land 
eternity.  Art  will  depict  a  scene  which  no  art  can  exaggerate. 
Their  greatest  picture  lives  on  a  canvas  of  reality,  woven  in 
blood,  and  flame,  and  "battle  splendor" — immortal  there,  as  hero 
ism  only  is.  Band  of  Immortals!  in  your  "iron  sleep"  take 
our  proud  and  sad  good-bye. 

The  Texas  brigade  met  and  overcame  the  first  shock  at  this 
point.  Benning's  Georgia  brigade  followed,  and  partaking  of  the 
same  slaughter,  partook  of  the  same  fame — the  brigade  badly 
cut  up,  Benning  wounded — but  the  Georgia  war  banner,  passing 
through  the  fire,  and  carried  by  no  common  hand,  waved  proudly 
on  the  other  side,  the  side  of  victory.  The  brigade  was  literally 
begirt  with  fire.  Victorious  in  front,  its  swift  forward  movement 
had  exposed  both  flanks,  and  now  from  troops  south  of  the  road 
destruction  poured  on  its  right.  Law's  brigade  of  Alabamians 
(Colonel  Perry  in  command),  forming  under  the  eye  of  Lee, 
sprang  forward  next,  with  the  old  hot  hurrah.  The  two  right 
regiments,  the  Fourth  and  Forty-seventh,  keeping  close  to  the 
road,  advanced  firing,  and  soon  divided  the  attention  of  the  troops 
on  the  south.  On  the  extreme  left,  the  Fifteenth  Alabama 
changed  direction  in  marching,  and  wheeling  to  the  left,  faced 
towards  the  north,  so  that  the  two  wings  of  the  Alabama  brigade 


232  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

stood  back  to  back,  while  both  fought  furiously.  The  Alabama 
centre  (the  Forty-fourth  and  Forty-eighth  regiments)  had  moved 
obliquely  to  the  left,  where  the  enemy  appeared  in  greatest  force; 
in  doing  so  leaving  a  considerable  gap  between  the  former  regi 
ment  and  the  Forty-seventh  on  its  right.  The  two  regiments 
(Forty-fourth  and  Forty-eighth)  had  to  cross  a  morass,  and  then, 
under  heavy  fire,  press  up  hill.  The  Forty-fourth  kept  well 
closed,  but  the  galling  fire  told  on  the  Forty-eighth.  Many  of 
the  men  left  the  ranks  to  take  shelter  behind  the  trees.  The 
Forty-eighth  was  faltering.  Fortunately,  the  Fifteenth  Alabama 
had  been  unexpectedly  successful.  It  had  disconcerted  and  put 
to  flight  the  Fifteenth  New  York  (heavy  siege  artillerymen 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  war),  before  they  had  time  to  in 
flict  injury  in  turn,  or  realize  by  how  few  they  weie  attacked., 
Having  now  no  enemy  in  their  immediate  front,  the  Fifteenth 
Alabama,  in  the  nick  of  time,  swung  round  to  the  right,  sent  a 
volley  up  the  line  which  confronted  the  Forty-eighth,  and  the 
heights  were  won.  The  enemy  was  now  so  far  checked  that 
Jenkins  could  be  formed,  and  for  a  time  held  in  reserve;  but  Per- 
rin's  brigade  of  Anderson's  division  (just  arrived  on  the  field) 
went  in  on  the  right  of  Law,  and  a  Florida  brigade,  of  the  same 
division,  coming  up  soon  after,  Perry  received  orders  to  drop  to 
the  rear  of  the  two,  and  act  as  a  support.  Perrin's  brigade  (Ala- 
bamians  also)  crouched,  in  the  thick  woods,  on  the  left  of  the 
road,  to  meet  the  attack,  which  soon  rolled  upon  it,  and  deliver 
ing  a  fire  which  was  as  destructive  as  it  was  unexpected,  followed 
rapidly  the  flying  foe,  drove  the  first  line  over  the  second,  and 
pushed  forward,  perhaps  half  a  mile,  though  afterwards  falling 
back  some  distance  towards  (but  not  to)  the  initial  point. 

The  enemy's  progress  had  been  stopped,  and  he  had  been 
driven  back  on  the  left  by  the  Texas,  Georgia  and  Alabama  bri 
gades.  On  the  right,  urged  forward  by  Longstreet  and  unable 
to  further  extend  his  line  with  the  brigade  of  Wofford,  then 
marching  as  rear-guard  to  the  wagon-train,  Kershaw  placed  him 
self  at  the  head  of  his  three  brigades,  and  led  in  person  a  charge 
which  retired  somewhat  the  confident  North.  A  pause  ensued, 
wherein  Hancock,  in  great  force,  stood  still.  At  7  A.  M.  he  sends 
fresh  orders  to  push  on;  but  it  was  not  until  two  hours  later 
(owing,  he  thinks,  to  the  apprehended  approach  of  Longstreet  on 
his  left)  that  with  half  of  Grant's  army  well  in  hand,  he  attacked 
with  all  his  power.  The  struggle  for  life  or  death  which  follows 
strains  every  sinew,  yet  is  without  permanent  advantage  to  either 
side.  The  same  ground  is  fought  over  in  succession  by  both. 
About  9:15  A.  M.  Hancock  received  a  dispatch  telling  him  "to 
•  attack  simultaneously  with  Burnside."  Hancock  being  at  that 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  233 

instant  simultaneously  attacked  himself,  on  the  right  and  left  of 
the  Plank  road,  exhibits  very  unmistakably  his  view  that  the 
person  most  needed  to  be  simultaneous  was  Burnside.  Half  an 
hour  later,  Hancock  received  a  dispatch  that  Cutler's  brigade  of 
the  Fifth  corps  had  fallen  back  considerably  disorganized.  Han 
cock  must  take  measures  to  check  this  movement  of  the  enemy, 
as  Meade  has  no  troops  to  spare;  and  two  brigades  of  Birney 
are  sent,  who  connect  with  Warren's  left.  The  firing  again  died 
away,  and  there  was  a  lull  all  along  the  line  until  about  noon. 
Hancock  had  advanced,  met  Longstreet,  fought,  accomplished 
nothing. 

Thrown  suddenly,  while  still  marching  by  the  flank,  into  the 
presence  of  an  advancing  foe,  Longstreet  laid  hold  on  two  batte 
ries  of  artillery,  as  an  athlete  might  seize  a  horizontal  bar,  and 
wheel  his  whole  body  to  a  level.  Blucher  might  have  been 
proud  of  the  tenacious  hand  which  was  laid  on  the  trunnions  of 
those  guns, and  Macdonald's  column  never  tore  a  bloodier  wreath. 

Ileth  and  YVilcox  had  been  moved  to  the  left  to  fill  up  the  in 
terval  between  Longstreet  and  Lwell,  and  protect  Longstreet's 
left;  with  the  exception  of  a  part  of  Davis'  brigade  of  Heth's 
division,  under  Colonel  Stone,  of  Mississippi,  which  fought  all 
the  rest  of  the  day  with  Long-street's  forces.  Colonel  Stone  was 
complimented  on  the  field  by  General  Hill.  General  Lee  sent 
two  telegrams  in  respect  to  these  divisions.  The  first  on  the  5th: 
"  Heth  and  YVilcox  have  repulsed  the  repeated  and  desperate 
assaults  on  the  Plank  road."  The  second  on  the  6th:  "lleth 
and  YVilcox,  in  the  act  of  being  relieved,  were  attacked  and 
thrown  into  some  confusion."  The  statement  in  Hancock's  re 
port,  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  and  elsewhere,  that  "  1 1  ill  was  driven 
back  one  and  a  half  miles,"  is  inaccurate.  The  two  batteries, 
whose  fire  at  the  critical  moment  had  helped  to  check  the  enemy, 
were  some  three  hundred  yards  (say  four  hundred)  from  where 
the  fight  began.  The  enemy  never  reached  those  guns.  There 
is  nothing  which  so  touches  me  as  the  defeat  or  eclipse  of  the 
truly  brave.  Their  sorrow,  or  their  shame,  is  of  a  noble  sort. 
From  first  to  last  these  two  divisions  had  the  hardest  task.  It 
was  theirs,  in  that  lonely  Wilderness,  to  hold  at  *bay  an  army, 
and  an  army  under  Hancock,  until  their  own  could  come  up; 
and  then  on  the  morrow,  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  see 
another  snatch  the  laurel  from  their  brow.  They  had  to  do 
more  than  show  courage  in  difficulty — that  they  did  on  the  5th. 
They  had  to  clo  more  than  show  courage  in  disaster — that  Long- 
street  did  on  the  6th.  They  had  to  bring  order  out  of  their  own 
confusion,  recover  the  cubits  of  their  stature  out  of  their  humili 
ation.  They  had  to  form  though  they  had  been  broken,  and  ad- 
16 


234  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

vancc  where  they  had  fled.  From  first  to  last,  theirs  was  intrin 
sically  the  hardest  task.  The  greatest  thing  need  not  be  the 
most  famous,  nor  that  which  is  cheered  or  cheers  itself  the  most. 
In  war,  as  elsewhere,  magnanimity  does  not  consist  in  never  being 
thrown.  Its  grand  quality  is  the  heart  to  rally  under  defeat. 

Anderson's  brigades,  arriving  after  Longstreet,  and  after  the 
sharpest  of  the  attack  was  over,  were  successively  sent  off  by  him, 
where  they  were  most  needed,  until  he  had  but  one  left,  Ma- 
hone's.  An  examination  of  the  enemy's  position  now  led  to  a 
movement  which  came  near  to  being  glorious  with  complete  suc 
cess.  The  brigades  of  Mahone,  Anderson,  and  Wofford,  of 
which  Mahone,  as  senior  brigadier,  was  in  command,  were  moved 
beyond  the  enemy's  left,  with  orders  to  attack  him  on  his  left  and 
in  rear.  The  enemy,  who  was  now,  at  intervals  only,  bearing 
down  upon  our  line,  was  at  the  same  moment  to  be  attacked  in 
front.  The  long-expected  flank  movement  came  at  last,  and 
when  it  was  least  desired.  The  troops  in  front  moved  down  on 
both  sides  of  the  road,  and  started  the  enemy  back,  at  first 
slowly,  until  the  effect  of  the  flank  movement  was  felt,  when  he 
broke  in  confusion,  leaving  his  dead  and  wounded  thick  upon 
the  field.  "They  came  yelling  like  so  many  infuriated  devils," 
writes  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  World.  Could  Lee 
have  spared  a  larger  force  from  his  front,  say  from  Heth  and 
Wilcox;  repeated  the  audacity  of  Chancellorsville!  Again  and 
again,  by  just  such  venture,  he  achieved  his  double  gains.  His 
greatest  victories  were  won  under  a  blade  suspended  by  a  hair. 
So  it  is  with  victory.  To  know  how  to  dare  everything  at  the 
right  place  and  moment  is  one  of  its  secrets.  If  once  more  it 
may  be  done!  See  what  three  brigades  are  doing,  co-operating 
with  others  in  front!  They  fall  on  Hancock's  left,  crushing 
Frank's  brigade,  sweeping  away  Mott's  division.  Hancock's  left 
is  forced  back.  He  endeavors  to  retain  the  advanced  position 
held  by  his  right  on  the  Plank  road,  but  cannot  do  so.  He  rallies 
on  the  original  line  from  which  he  advanced.  We  are  rolling 
him  up  like  a  scroll.  The  Plank  road  is  ours.  We  are  victo 
rious.  Wejpre  marching  to  further  victory.  Wadsworth  gives 
way  in  front,  himself  struck  do\vn.  The  Alabama  brigade  sweeps 
over  him.  Grant's  army  totters.  Already  repulsed,  it  is  now 
threatened  with  destruction.  In  such  a  moment,  Longstreet 
"fell,  bleeding  like  an  ox."  It  was  another  such  moment,  when 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  fell  at  Seven  Pines;  another  such,  when  our 
star  of  chivalry,  the  Sidney  of  Shiloh  (bright  image  of  him  of 
Zutphen),  falling  from  his  horse,  threw  the  pallor  of  his  death  on 
his  victory,  as  it  rolled  over  him  in  the  dust. 

In  concert  with  the  attack  of  the  infantry  on  front  and  flank, 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  235 

two  guns  of  Mclntosh's  battalion  were  pushed  down  the  road, 
firing  as  they  went.  Longstreet  had  stopped  for  an  instant,  at 
the  suggestion  of  General  Lee,  to  direct  the  removal  of  some  logs 
which  impeded  the  guns,  and  then,  accompanied  by  Brigadier- 
General  Jenkins  and  staff,  continued  down  the  road.  Hancock 
was  now  back  on  the  Brock  road,  holding  his  last  position.  Dis 
positions  were  made  for  a  further  attack  upon  the  position  on  the 
Brock  road.  Kersha\v  was  to  break  the  line  and  push  it  to  the 
right  of  the  road  towards  Freclericksburg,  while  Jenkins  should 
march  by  the  flank  down  the  road,  beyond  our  main  line  of 
battle  and  of  skirmishers,  and  then  deploy  and  sweep  the  Brock 
road.  Kershaw  was  riding  with  Jenkins,  at  the  head  of  the 
brigade  of  the  latter,  when  two  or  three  shots  were  fired  on  the 
left  of  the  road,  and  immediately  afterwards  a  volley  was  poured 
into  the  head  of  the  column  from  the  woods  on  the  right,  occu 
pied  by  Mahone's  brigade.  By  this  fire  Longstrcet  \vas  dange 
rously  wounded,  and  Jenkins  killed.  Hancock  could  now  reform 
his  broken  columns. 

Hancock's  account  of  this  transaction  is  very  simple.  The 
Confederates  advancing  upon  I 'rank's  brigade,  which,  "having 
been  heavily  engaged  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  had  exhausted 
its  ammunition,  and  was  compelled  to  retire  before  the  enemy, 
whose  attack  was  made  with  Ln~eat  vehemence.  This  was  Lon<>~- 

o  J~> 

street's  attack.  Passing  over  Frank's  brigade,  the}-  struck  the 
left  of  Mott's  division,  which,  in  turn,  was  forced  back.  Some 
confusion  ensuing  among  the  troops  of  that  division,  I  endeav 
ored  to  restore  order,  and  to  reform  my  line  of  battle  along  the 
Orange  plank-road,  from  its  extreme  advance  to  its  junction  with 
the  Brock  road,  by  throwing  back  my  left,  in  order  to  hold  my 
advanced  position  on  that  road,  and  on  its  right;  but  was  unable 
to  effect  this,  owing  to  the  partial  disorganization  of  the  troops, 
which  was  to  be  attributed  to  their  having  been  engaged  for  many 
hours  in  a  dense  forest  under  a  heavy  and  murderous  musketry 
fire,  when  their  organization  was  parti}'  lost.  General  Birney, 
who  was  in  command  of  that  portion  of  the  line,  thought  it 
advisable  to  withdraw  the  troops  from  the  woods,  where  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  adjust  our  lines,  and  to  reform  them  in  the 
breastworks  along  the  Brock  road,  on  our  original  line  of  battle." 
Making  allowances  for  certain  pardonable  euphemisms,  the  true 
face  of  the  matter  is  seen  to  be  as  heretofore  stated.  Mr.  Swinton 
writes:  "It  seemed,  indeed,  that  irretrievable  disaster  was  upon 
us;  but  in  the  very  torrent  and  tempest  of  the  attack  it  suddenly 
ceased,  and  all  was  still."  And  again:  "But  in  the  very  fury  and 
tempest  of  the  Confederate  onset,  the  advance  was  of  a  sudden 
stayed  by  a  cause  at  the  moment  unknown.  This  afterwards 
proved  to  have  been  the  fall  of  the  head  of  the  attack." 


236  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

General  Lee  now  came  in  person  to  the  front,  and  ordered 
Kershaw  to  take  position  with  his  right  resting  on  the  road-bed 
of  the  Orange  and  Fredericksburg  railroad,  and  told  Field  to 
straighten  his  line — Field  and  Kershaw  being  perpendicular  to 
the  Plank  road,  and  the  turning  force  parallel  with  it,  to  which 
fact  was  due  the  casualty  which  had  just  happened.  With  the 
exception  of  Wofford's  brigade,  Kershaw  was  engaged  no  more 
that  day.  It  was  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  before  the  next  ad 
vance  was  made.  Hancock  is  now  too  strong  behind  his  works 
to  be  successfully  driven  from  them.  He  is  greatly  shaken  in 
them,  however,  and  greatly  demoralized  behind  them,  to  an  ex 
tent  which  shows  how  near  we  were  to  victory  four  hours  earlier, 
when  the  blindest  accident  pulled  down  the  head  of  the  attack; 
nay,  how  narrowly  we  grazed  it  this  second  time,  after  the  lapse  of 
hours  had  given  leave  to  fortify  behind  breastworks;  which,  but 
for  the  fall  of  the  two  generals,  would  not  have  been  granted. 
There  was  nothing  else  but  to  drive  from  a  strong  line,  by  main 
force,  an  enemy  prepared  now  against  manoeuvre  and  surprise. 
A  Russian  proverb  says,  "  Measure  ten  times,  you  can  cut  only 
•once."  Precious  as  his  army  was,  Lee  might  well  have  hesitated 
to  assault  a  position  so  defended  and  defensible,  after  his  chief 
lieutenant  had  been  borne  from  the  field.  It  was  a  time  to  look 
about  him  well,  to  look  before  and  after,  with  a  provident,  reflect 
ing  eye,  to  see  surely  what  might  be  expected  of  great  daring. 
In  the  fourth  year  of  the  war,  it  was  not  lawful  to  dare  too  much. 
Lee  looked  before  he  would  dare  this  leap  for  his  adversary's 
wall.  How,  being  in,  he  bore  himself,  the  opposer  is  aware. 
Hancock's  report  being  at  hand,  let  that  speak. 

"At  4.15  P.  M.,the  enemy  advanced  against  my  line  in  force." 
"After  half  an  hour  had  passed,  some  of  the  troops  began  to 
waver,  and  finally  a  portion  of  Mott's  division  and  Ward's  brigade 
of  Birney's  division,  in  the  first  line,  gave  way,  retiring  in  dis 
order  towards  Chancellorsville.  My  staff  and  other  officers  made 
great  exertions  to  rally  these  men,  and  many  of  them  were  re 
turned  to  the  line  of  battle,  but  a  portion  of  them  could  not  be 
collected  until  the  action  was  over.  As  soon  as  the  break  oc 
curred  the  enemy  pushed  forward,  and  some  of  them  reached  the 
breastworks  and  planted  their  flags  thereon.  .  .  .  The 
confusion  and  disorganization  among  a  portion  of  the  troops  of 
Mott's  and  Birney's  divisions,  on  this  occasion,  was  greatly  in 
creased,  if  not  originated,  by  the  front  line  of  breastworks  having 
taken  fire  a  short  time  before  the  enemy  made  his  attack;  the 
flames  having  been  communicated  to  it  from  the  forest  in  front 
(the  battle-ground  of  the  morning),  which  had  been  burning  for 
some  hours.  The  breastworks  on  this  portion  of  my  line  were 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  237 

constructed  entirely  of  logs,  and  at  the  critical  moment  of  the 
enemy's  attack  were  a  mass  of  flames,  which  .it  was  impossible  at 
that  time  to  subdue,  the  fire  extending  for  many  hundred  paces 
right  and  left.  The  intense  heat  and  the  smoke,  which  was 
driven  by  the  wind  directly  into  the  faces  of  the  men,  prevented 
them,  on  portions  of  the  line,  from  firing  over  the  parapet,  and  at 
some  points  compelled  them  to  abandon  the  line." 

Hancock's  position  was  a  trying  one.  Suddenly  the  gloom  of 
the  dense  wood  was  pierced  with  the  fierce  glare  of  conflagration. 
The  torch  was  added  to  the  sword.  But  if  it  is  hard  to  stand 
firm  behind  a  breastwork  of  fire,  is  it  nothing  to  charge  up  to  it 
and  plant  a  flag  upon  it?  Jenkins'  South  Carolina  brigade,  led 
by  Bratton  now,  under  a  withering  fire,  rush  up  to  the  works  and 
into  them,  but  it  seems  are  not  supported  as  they  should  have 
been,  and  Carroll,  hurrying  up,  is  too  strong  for  them.  Blackened 
with  the  smoke  of  gunpowder  and  other  smoke,  they  fall  back 
discomfited — save  them  who  fall  back  dead — they  flame-girt,  the 
breastworks  of  the  enemy,  their  funeral  pyre. 

The  correspondent  of  the  \Vorld  wrote:  "  Mott's  division  fell 
back  in  confusion.  Stevenson's  division  gave  way  confusedly, 
compelling  the  remainder  of  the  left-centre  to  fall  back  some  dis 
tance.  Crawford's  division  suffered  severely.  One  of  its  regi 
ments,  the  Seventh  Pennsylvania  reserve,  was  captured  almost  in 
a  bod\',  and  the  enemy  succeeded  in  reaching  our  breastworks. 
There  was  imminent  danger  of  a  general  break." 

In  the  interval  between  the  two  attacks  of  our  right,  Grant  had 
observed  to  Mr.  Swinton,  as  they  sat  "under  the  trees  on  the  hill 
side,"  "It  has  been  my  experience  that  though  the  Southerners 
fight  desperately  at  first,  yet,  when  we  hang  on  for  a  day  or  two, 
we  whip  them  awfully." 

Conformably  with  this  hillside  view  of  things,  Grant  sent  word 
to  Hancock  to  attack  again  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening.  It  was 
while  the  latter  was  making  his  dispositions  to  this  end,  that  the 
Confederates  had  resumed  the  offensive.  After  they  had  fallen 
back  a  dispatch  was  received  countermanding  the  order  to  attack 
at  six.  The  battle  in  this  part  of  the  field  may  be  summed  up 
by  saying:  Hancock  broke  our  right  in  the  morning.  Longstreet 
drove  him  back,  and  broke  his  left  in  the  evening — over  the  same 
ground.  They  did  not  reach  our  guns,  and  we  did  not  reach  the 
Brock  road. 

"The  Rebels  cannot  endure  another  such  day,  and  we  can,"  was 
the  word  in  "The  Union  Camp"  as  the  sun  went  down  on  the 
6th.  "The  Union  Camp"  was  premature  in  this.  "The  Rebels" 
wrere  not  worn  out  "by  attrition"  in  one  battle,  or  in  two.  They 
could  endure  many  more  such  days.  They  could  endure  more 
that  day. 


238  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

On  our  right,  a  very  heavy  attack  had  been  made  in  the  morn 
ing,  on  Early's  front.  Persistent  attacks  revealed  to  Warren  and 
Sedgvvick  that  the  sacrifice  of  life  in  the  effort  to  carry  this  front 
was  useless.  From  sunrise  to  sunset  the  critical  moments  and 
conflicts  were  on  the  right.  But  one  most  sad  event  on  Ewell's 
line,  it  were  a  serious  omission  not  to  mention. 

Early  on  the  6th  Colonel  John  Thompson  Brown,  with  Lieu 
tenant  Angel,  of  the  Second  howitzers,  at  the  time  detached  as 
adjutant,  had  ridden  to  the  front  with  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
place  some  artillery  in  position,  but  had  only  succeeded  in.  find 
ing  place  for  a  single  section.  In  his  eagerness  to  bring  more 
guns  to  bear  at  a  point  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  to  the  right  of 
the  turnpike,  Colonel  Brown,  attended  by  no  one  but  Lieutenant 
Angel,  advanced  some  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  front  of  the 
Fifth  Alabama  regiment,  and  in  doing  so  came  close  to  the  ene 
my's  skirmishers,  who  were  concealed  by  the  brown  brush.  In 
the  midst  of  such  reconnoitring,  the  silence  was  broken  by  a 
volley  of  musketry  fired  by  the  enemy's  pickets,  and  Brown  fell. 
A  bullet  had  penetrated  his  forehead,  killing  him  instantly.  The 
beat  of  one  of  the  warmest  hearts,  making  a  man's  breast  like  a 
woman's,  had  ceased,  and  the  bright  outlook  of  a  life,  all  aflame 
with  generous  and  manly  hopes,  had  fallen  quenched.  The 
sword  presented  to  him  by  those  howitzers,  who  under  his  orders 
had  fired  the  first  and  over  his  memory  did  afterwards  fire  the 
last  shot  in  the  war,  clung  to  him  as  he  fell.  He  died  with  har 
ness  on  his  back,  worthy  his  father's  son. 

Before  daylight  Gordon  had  discovered  that  his  left  over 
lapped  the  enemy's  right,  and  by  scouts  and  personal  examina 
tion,  he  found  that  the  enemy  did  not  suspect  his  presence.  He 
was  therefore  J^d  to  believe  that  he  could  destroy  that  portion 
of  the  Union  army  by  a  flank  movement,  and  almost  from  the 
rising  until  the  going  down  of  the  sun  he  urged  such  a  move 
ment.  It  was  the  same  military  eye,  which  on  the  1 2th  of  May 
at  Spotsylvania  Courthouse,  devised  the  means  to  relieve  the 
salient  of  the  crushing  pressure  of  Grant's  columns.  But  owing 
to  the  report  of  our  cavalry,  that  a  column  was  threatening  our 
left,  and  to  the  belief  that  Burnside's  corps  was  in  rear  of  the 
flank  on  which  the  attack  was  suggested,  Ewell  and  Early  con 
curred  in  deeming  it  impolitic  to  do  as  Gordon  proposed.  But 
towards  the  close  of  the  day  these  objections  seemed  no  longer 
to  exist,  and  the  movement  was  ordered. 

About  sundown  Gordon  moved  out,  and  found  the  enemy,  as 
he  expected,  totally  unprepared.  The  first  troops  encountered 
were  caught  with  their  guns  stacked,  and  fled  precipitately.  Bri 
gade  after  brigade  was  broken  to  pieces  before  any  formation 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  239 

could  be  made.  The  woods  were  strewed  with  the  enemy's  dead 
and  wounded.  A  number  of  prisoners  were  captured,  among 
them  Generals  Seymour  and  Shaler.  The  Sixth  army  corps  was 
broken  and  smitten  with  panic.  Johnston's  brigade  (which  had 
arrived  that  morning  from  Hanover  Junction)  was  thrown  in  the 
rear  of  Gordon's,  and  subsequently  Pegram's  was  moved  to  his 
assistance.  The  plan  originally  proposed  by  Gordon  had  been 
to  move  out  one  or  two  brigades,  place  them  immediately  on  the 
enemy's  flank,  move  rapidly  down  his  lines,  and,  as  we  cleared 
the  front  of  each  of  our  brigades  or  divisions,  to  have  these 
move  out  and  join  in  the  attack,  so  that  we  would  have  a  con 
stantly  increasing  force,  attacking  a  constantly  decreasing  enemy, 
placed  under  the  disadvantage  of  having  constantly  to  change 
his  front  to  meet  the  Hank  movement. 

The  following  from  the  Xc\v  York  \Vorld  suffices  to  show  how 
far  results  realized  expectations:  "The  enemy  came  down  like  a 
torrent,  rolling  and  dashing  in  living  waves,  and  flooding  up 

o  «r>  o  ir>          I 

against  the  whole  Sixth  corps.  The  main  line  stood  like  a  rock; 
not  so  the  extreme  right.  That  flank  was  instantly  and  utterly 
turned.  The  Rebel  line  was  the  longer,  and  surged  around  Sey 
mour's  brigade,  tided  over  it  and  through  it,  beat  against  Shaler's, 
and  bore  away  his  right  regiments.  All  this  done  in  less  than 
ten  minutes.  Perhaps,  Seymour's  men,  seeing  their  pickets  run 
ning  back,  and  hearing  the  shouts  of  the  Rebels,  who  had  charged 
with  all  their  chivalry,  were  smitten  with  a  panic,  and  standing 
on  no  order  of  going,  went  at  once,  and,  in  an  incredible  short 
time,  made  their  way  through  a  mile  and  a  half  of  woods  to  the 
Plank  road  in  the  rear.  They  reported,  in  the  frantic  manner 
usual  to  stampeded  men,  the  entire  corps  broken." 

Gordon  has  ground  for  the  assertion,  "If  the  movement  had 
been  made  in  the  morning,  as  I  desired,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  we  would  have  destroyed  Grant's  army."  Not  till  daylight 
on  the  /th,  when  the  whole  of  Early 's  division  and  a  part  of 
Johnson's  were  thrown  forward  on  Sedgwick's  abandoned  line, 
so  as  to  occupy  a  part  of  his  abandoned  works,  on  the  right  of 
the  road  diverging  to  the  Germanna  Ford  road,  and  leaving  in 
our  rear  his  works  on  the  left  of  that  road — not  till  then  did  we 
realize  the  full  extent  of  our  success.  Twice  that  day  another 
Chancellorsville  was  in  our  hands,  and  twice  it  dropped. 

The  Tribune  letter,  dated  Wilderness,  May  /th,  says:  "Sedg 
wick's  affair  last  night  has  in  nowise  disconcerted  the  plans  of 
our  leaders,  depressed  their  hope,  or  impaired  the  efficiency  of 
their  men.  It  was  but  a  disastrous  episode."  Mcade's  report 
has  this :  "Just  before  dark  the  enemy  moved  a  considerable  force 
.around  the  righj;  flank  of  the  Sixth  corps,  held  by  Rickett's  di- 


24O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

vision,  and  in  conjunction  with  a  demonstration  in  front,  succeeded 
in  forcing  the  division  back  in  some  confusion,  making  prisoners 
of  Generals  Seymour  and  Shaler.  This  substantially  ended  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness." 

The  London  Times  of  May  25th,  in  allusion  to  the  series  of 
battles  of  which  the  Wilderness  was  the  first,  and  before  the  de 
tails  of  the  battle  of  Spotsylvania  Courthouse  had  been  received, 
makes  this  assertion:  "It  would  not  be  impossible  to  match  the 
results  of  any  one  day's  battle  with  stories  from  the  Old  World; 
but  never,  we  should  say,  were  five  such  battles  compressed  into 
six  successive  days."  The  Times  is  amused  at  the  thought  that 
the  Americans  are  probably  proud  of  their  pre-eminence  for 
slaughter.  The  loss  of  the  Northern  army  on  the  5th  and  6th 
of  May,  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  exclusive  of  prisoners,  was 
thirty-seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-seven — a  list  de 
rived  from  the  Surgeon-General's  office.  Seeing  that  his  cavalry 
and  artillery  are,  with  little  exception,  not  included  in  the  count, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Lee  killed  or  disabled  one  of  the 
enemy  for  every  man  he  had  engaged.  Had  the  policy  of  wear 
ing  out  by  attrition  been  resorted  to  earlier,  the  South  could  have 
stood  it  longer  than  the  North.  The  policy  itself  is  not  strictly 
original  with  our  favored  land.  In  their  belligerent  relations  with 
the  English,  the  Chinese  announced  themselves  invincible,  be 
cause  they  said  it  was  simply  impossible  for  Great  Britain  to  kill 
them  off  as  rapidly  as  they  were  born.  The  policy  over  here  was 
very  near  receiving  the  coup  de  grace  at  the  very  first  throw;  very 
near  also  to  achieving  more  memorable  results  at  the  first  throw. 
Had  Longstreet  been  a  few  minutes  later,  Lee's  army  would,  or, 
at  least  should,  have  been  defeated.  Had  he  been  a  few  minutes 
earlier,  or  not  been  wounded,  Grant  would  have  been  driven 
across  the  river,  in  the  ignominious  defeat  of  his  predecessors. 
You  know  Landseer's  picture  of  defiance.  The  Monarch  of  the 
Glen  brought  to  bay,  with  his  forefoot  on  the  first  hound,  is  grind 
ing  him  in  the  sand — the  beautiful  head,  with  the  warrior-horn 
and  the  victor-glance,  lifted  in  free,  fearless  fashion  to  the  pack, 
which  has  paused  to  breathe,  or,  it  may  be,  manoeuvre.  So  stood 
Lee,  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth,  after  Death  had  thrown  his 
long  shadow  behind  the  trees.  To  borrow  the  word  of  a  French 
general,  he  had  made  Grant  "swallow  his  sword  up  to  the  hilt." 
Had  not  the  dimensions  of  the  throat  been  equal  to  three  such 
swords,  it  had  never  breathed  again.  Grant  had  gained  nothing 
and  had  lost  heavily.  When  he  turned  to  make  for  Spotsylvania 
Courthouse,  though  he  had  possession  of  the  direct  route,  and 
had  the  start,  he  was  again  foiled,  as  he  continued  to  be  in  every 
subsequent  attempt  to  get  between  Lee's  army  and  Richmond. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  24! 

After  the  bloody  exercise  of  the  I2th  of  May,  Grant  forthwith 
enlarged  his  edge  to  the  back  of  "  all  the  summer  " — which  was  im 
mediately  perceived  to  be  as  clear  an  instance  of  the  moral  sub 
lime  as  the  original  project  of  "hanging  on  for  a  day  or  two.  ' 
For  a  clay  or  two  it  seemed  to  him  expedient  to  hang  off.  He 
says  in  his  report:  "The  1 3th,  I4th,  I5th,  i6th,  i/th  and  iSth  of 
May  were  consumed  in  manoeuvring  and  awaiting  reinforcements 
from  Washington" — the  General  who  never  manoeuvred! 

When,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1865,  the  Confederate  line  at  Peters 
burg  "stretched  until  it  broke,"  and  eight  clays  afterwards  Lee 
surrendered  his  eight  thousand  muskets  to  the  successful  foe,  the 
incessant  jeopardy  and  vigil  of  eleven  months,  the  marching  and 
countermarching,  days  of  clanger  and  nights  of  wasting,  want, 
exposure,  exhaustion,  had  done  their  work.  Grant's  bayonets, 
also,  had  done  their  work;  yet  not  by  simply  "hanging  on  for  a 
day  or  two,"  on  this  or  any  other  line.  Spring  violets  changed 
to  summer  roses;  summer  roses  passed  into  the  crimson-yellow 
forest  light,  which  sets  its  bow  in  the  cloud  of  Indian  summer. 
The  passion  flower  wept  and  passed.  The  violet  breath  came 
over  a  second  spring,  while  Grant  was  hanging  on  his  "day  or 
two." 

VI. 

The  situation  at  one  time  resembled  that  of  one  year  earlier, 
when  Hooker's  right  was  turned  two  miles  above  Chancellorsville, 
and  three  divisions  hurled  upon  a  far  stronger  position,  from 
which  it  might  have  been  impossible  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  had 
time  been  given  him  to  recover  from  his  first  surprise,  but  when 
no  time  was  given  him.  The  bones  of  Jackson  turned  in  their 
coffin,  as  the  tramp  of  armed  men  reverberated  on  the  field  of 
his  splendor.  It  needs  some  modification,  that  old  proverb,  "The 
dead  lion  is  more  than  the  living  dog."  This  man  cannot  be  left 
out  in  the  enumeration  of  the  forces  fighting  for  us  on  the  sixth. 
Dead  he  fought — nay,  triumphed.  Hancock's  apprehensions  of 
a  flank  movement  on  his  left,  all  through  the  morning  of  the 
sixth,  apprehensions  continually  awakened  and  allayed,  and 
"paralyzing  a  number  of  his  best  troops,  who  otherwise  would 
have  gone  into  action  at  a  decisive  point" — these  were  Jackson's 
deeds  on  this  very  ground  surviving  him.  The  memory  of  Jack 
son  a  year  before  was  the  sleeping  lion,  the  stroke  of  whose  paw 
was  momentarily  expected. 

How  all  things  are  granted  to  the  sincere  and  earnest  nature 
has  been  ineffaceably  stamped  here.  "  He  that  runs  may  read." 
Here  he  whose  life  was  the  consecration  of  valor  unto  duty,  hal 
lowed  the  spot  on  which  he  fell,  and  made  it,  most  truly,  sacred 


242  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

soil;  made  the  Wilderness  his  lion  breast.  For  a  man  to  manifest 
so  much  in  the  flesh,  the  Genius  of  the  time  had  said,  "I  will  seek 
him  among  the  conventionally  obscure;  I  will  find  him  among 
the  constitutionally  weak.  On  him  will  I  lay  the  weight  of  my 
hand,  and  then  will  I  demand  of  him  the  fullness  of  his  stature — 
a  hand  of  hardship,  which  shall  be  like  the  weight  above  the  arch, 
keeping  it  in  place."  And  so  he  grew  a  firm,  plain  soldier,  not 
to  be  twisted,  and  not  to  be  thwarted.  The  world  admires  when 
the  five  talents  make  themselves  ten,  but  the  truly  grand  issue  is 
the  struggle  of  the  solitary  talent  to  repeat  itself.  In  after  days 
he  became  noted  for  his  celerity,  but  it  came  of  regularly  accele 
rated  motion  originally  slow.  It  was  a  swiftness  born  less  of 
vivacity  than  of  intensity.  His  wheel  was  a  swoop  as  from  an 
serie  in  the  majestic  depths — a  wing  swimming  upon  depth,  and 
a  minatory  beak  like  the  eagle's.  -It  is  more  clear  henceforth, 
what  is  meant  by  the  "race  to  the  swift" — swiftness  slowly  gath 
ered,  launched ^from  a  divine  depth,  like  lightning.  Here  was  a 
deep,  silent  growth,  ripening  in  stillness. 

A  Jackson,  terribly  in  earnest,  dwelt  terribly  alone  very  often. 
Let  us  well  understand,  and  lay  it  to  heart,  that  the  visible  uni 
verse  frowns  on  such  a  man,  that  the  world  of  appearance  is  in 
arms  against  him,  till  he  end  the  conqueror  of  the  world.  "  Find 
your  advantage  in  a  little  latitude;  only  upon  condition  that  you 
trim  here,  are  derelict  there,  shall  you  succeed,  with  my  permis 
sion,"  says  the  world.  "Suppress  this  scruple,"  says  one.  "  Do 
.my  dirty  work,"  says  another.  Of  many  phases  in  this  man's 
life,  could  we  see  them,  we  would  say  "Ecce  in  Descrto ! "  Face 
to  face  with  the  tough  fact  of  existence,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  guile  of  the  plausible  on  the  other,  whose  arch  snare  for  the 
straitened  is  illusive  haste,  he  learns  that  which  is  the  beginning 
of  all  wisdom,  the  immortal  difference  between  truth  and  lies. 
The  field  of  deception,  including  self-deception,  greatly  the  worst, 
perceptibly  narrows.  The  sense  of  reality  deepens  in  him,  espe 
cially  of  the  great  unseen  realities,  on  which  he  must  forever 
lean,  when  he  joins  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  do  fearless 
battle  with  the  seeming  strong.  In  common  speech,  we  say  of 
one  farther-reaching,  acuter  than  his  fellows,  "  He  sees  through 
a  mill  stone."  Dim,  material  senses  obstruct  not  his  wider,  pro- 
founder  vision.  What  we  call  strength  of  mind  portrays  itself 
in  this.  The  non-realizing  sense  of  truth,  of  such  truth  as  is 
avowed,  and  even  believed  to  be  believed,  is  the  great  source  of 
disorder  in  this  world.  That  "love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil,"  in  some  cases,  is  not  quite  clear.  There  are  so  many  evils, 
and  so  many  roots.  But  that  love  of,  or  subjection  to,  appear 
ances,  the  captivity  of  the  sense  to  the  flash  of  the  present,  the 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  243 

charmful  or  the  minatory  immediate,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all, 
is  apt  to  be  very  clear;  and  this,  it  may  be,  is  what  the  original 
means — money,  visible  value,  visible  power,  "the  guinea's  stamp" 
to  that  effect,  the  "image  and  superscription"  to  that  effect,  the 
form  of  a  fair  instant,  or  of  a  frowning  one.  The  glittering  bait 
hangs  full  in  sight.  The  reward  of  self-respect  and  self-sacrifice 
is  invisible.  With  what  firmness  and  decision  Jackson  made  his 
choice,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  was  thundered  to  the  world.  The 
shallow,  mid-summer  brook  is  thrown  out  of  channel,  by  each 
recurring,  trivial  obstruction,  and  whichever  way  the  wind  blows, 
shivers  into  commotion  and  ululation.  Jackson's  life  is  borne 
forward,  on  the  silent,  strong  life-currents,  wherein,  after  sore 
struggle,  he  is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  world's  strong 
swimmers.  Well  for  Jackson,  well  for  mankind,  so  in  need  of 
great  examples!  This  or  that  sweet  wish  of  the  bosom,  or  bril 
liant  seeming  "  Northwest  passage  to  Enjoyment,"  was  but  an 
appearance  thrown  before  an  eager-hearted  man  to  give  him  self- 
mastery.  Long  since  it  had  "consumed  away,  like  as  it  were  a 
moth  fretting  a  garment,"  and  his  example  remains,  a  possession 
forever.  The  Northwest  business,  with  its  midnight  sun,  and 
fires  of  gem-work  and  gold  kindled  therein,  at  last  is  anchored 
to  an  iceberg.  Like  the  iceberg,  it  melts  in  the  ray  which  causes 
it  to  glitter;  a  marigold,  dying  for  the  sun,  and  dying  by  it. 

A  great  man's  course,  on  his  way  to  greatness,  is  well  known 
to  be  the  greatest  of  all  ocean  charts.  In  this  case,  a  great  sailor, 
having  little  or  nothing  of  the  autobiographic  turn,  has  left  scant 
record  of  his  soundings  on  the  coast,  as  well  as  subsequent  log- 
board.  He  is  fairly  launched  on  the  great  deep,  as  a  flag-ship  of 
mankind  and  master  of  the  storm,  before  his  sailing  quality  re 
ceives  due  notice.  Were  it  not  for  the  steep  wave  he  put  behind, 
\ve  would  have  no  measure  of  his  buffetings.  As  a  revelation  of 
the  conscience  of  the  South,  by  which  the  poor  man  of  the  South 
was  actuated  and  pervaded,  and  as  a  testimony  due  to  a  cause 
•which  begot  such  a  man  and  his  example,  I  hold  up  this  man  to 
you  for  this  instant.  I  hold  him  up  as  an  example,  sorely  needed 
at  this  time,  of  one  whose  strength  was  strengthened  by  misfor 
tune,  whose  life  was  one  long  wrestle  with  adversity,  a  choice  of 
difficulties  at  every  step,  and  the  pursuit  of  high  aims  over  them; 
a  life,  theiefore,  which  had  to  derive  power  from  defeat,  diligently 
note  the  cause  of  failure,  and  see  that  the  same  did  not  recur, 
often  as  it  must  recur  before  quite  vanquished.  I  hold  him  up  as 
one  who  learned,  not  with  less  hindrance  than  others,  to  curb  his 
spirit  within  the  iron  links  of  the  inexorable;  who  from  the  time 
of  this  first  and  greatest  victory,  after  which  other  victories  were 
easier,  encountered  life  and  life's  imprisoning  enchantments  writh 


244  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

drawn  sword,  which  he  held  to  by  the  sign  of  the  Cross;  in- 
which  sign  he  conquered;  under  which  a  world  of  sorcery  cow 
ered;  under  which  the  world,  Mephistopheles,  and  the  Prince  of 
Darkness  cowered.  I  hold  him  up  as  one  who  appears  upon  the 
scene  (seems  to  have  been  possible  then)  just  as  our  Book  of 
Judges,  or,  if  you  please,  our  age  of  the  Scipios,  was  closing, 
and  on  the  threshold  of  the  present  universal  stew.  In  his  time 
the  forces  were  at  work  which  were  to  shift  the  golden  into  the 
inflated  paper  age,  and  put  upon  the  boards,  the  book,  or  better, 
the  bladder,  of  Railroad  Kings,  and  ballot-stuffed  sovereignty 
of  the  people.  Against  these  he  was  to  fight,  and  die  fighting, 
for  the  present,  it  would  seem,  unprevailingly.  Above  all,  and 
as  all  in  all,  I  hold  him  up  as  a  soldier  of  the  truth,  to  his  best 
ability  to  see  it.  Man  is  what  he  has  been  defined  to  be,  a  re 
ligious  animal,  in  proportion  as  he  strives  to  know  the  truth,  and, 
as  a  sequence,  to  perform  it.  By  right  conduct,  founded  on  right 
views  the  healthy  mind  is  satisfied,  in  no  other  way.  Jackson's 
views  of  truth  were  circumscribed,  as  those  of  all  men  are,  by 
limitations  of  time  and  circumstance;  but  he  has  this  indubitable 
sympton  of  a  healthy  mind:  that  his  use  for  beliefs  was  to  trans 
late  them  into  practice,  verify  them  in  act;  that  for  him  faith  was 
an  act,  a  thing  not  so  much  to  talk  by,  as  to  walk  by;  that  he 
lived  by  his  belief  as  he  did  by  his  daily  bread.  The  high  idea 
of  a  spiritual  universe,  overarching  and  overruling  the  material 
frame  of  things,  as  the  eternal  substance  of  which  the  latter  is 
but  the  shadow  cast  in  time — this  veritable  real  presence  in  re 
ligion,  without  which  all  else  is  as  dross,  was  for  him  a  living, 
ever-present  fact.  The  difference  between  men,  the  difference 
between  minds,  the  difference  between  lives,  is  in  this.  "To  be 
or  not  to  be?"  as  Hamlet  puts  it,  "that  is  the  question,"  applica 
ble  to  much  else  than  mere  self-slaughter  of  the  flesh,  but  against 
which  voluntary  "not  to  be,"  in  every  aspect  of  it,  "the  ever 
lasting  hath  fixed  his  canon."  "To  be"  is  to  "take  arms  against 
a  sea  of  troubles";  undaunted  to  oppose  them,  in  a  world  whose 
wave  forever  falls  as  hammer,  when  not  beaten  into  anvil;  where 
not  to  be  victor  is  to  be  vanquished.  It  is  a  question  which,  in 
all  aspects,  Jackson  decides  with  great  emphasis  in  the  affimative. 
The  iron  brow  of  duty,  which  early  fills  him  with  deep  awe  and 
veneration,  grows  majestically  beautiful  in  time,  and  he  learns  to 
look  upon  it  with  a  self-consecrating  love  and  faith.  Never  did 
man  more  decisively  renounce  for  himself,  in  this  life,  the  plea 
sures,  avidities,  and  shows  which  could  not  follow  him  to  the 
next.  Looking  on  the  firm,  compressed  lines  of  his  face,  and 
the  gray,  unyielding  gaze  which  answers  ours,  almost  with  the 
fixed  determination  of  a  thing  of  steel— a  most  unshaken  eye, 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  245 

but  through  which  pathetically  glances  the  touch  of  a  kindly 
light,  as  of  the  light  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  breaking  through 
a  world  of  difficult  turmoil,  sorrow,  and  long-enduring  hope  de 
ferred — looking  on  his  still,  solemn  face,  one  feels  as  though  the 
iron  brow  hid  passed  into  this  human  one. 

Here  was  a  man  to  give  the  few  the  confidence  of  many.  Here 
was  one  to  be  a  leader  of  that  Confederate  might,  which,  without 
music,  without  decorations,  far  removed  from  the  glitter  of  "  pomp 
and  circumstance,"  in  hunger  and  in  rags,  saw  glory  and  duty,  as 
the  Puritan  saw  his  God,  through  the  bare  walls  of  this  meeting 
house.  His  men  were  partakers  of  his  stuff.  He  orders  a  squad 
to  resist  a  column.  The  men  obey,  nothing  doubting.  Jackson 
orders,  Jackson  knows.  The  cry  "Jackson!"  breaks  from  the 
enemy,  as  he  rises  out  of  the  ground  behind  them  and  their  works. 
His  name  doubles  his  ranks.  A  little  one  becomes  a  thousand. 
So  it  is  with  discernment  of  time  and  circumstances.  At  Samo- 
sierra,  the  Spaniards  planted  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery  in  the  neck 
of  the  pass,  so  as  to  sweep  the  whole  of  the  steep  ascent.  But 
Napoleon  rides  into  the  mouth  of  the  pass,  and  seizing  the  mist 
of  the  morning  for  a  casque,  orders  the  Polish  cavalry  of  his 
guard  to  charge  through  the  vapor  to  the  battery.  The  first 
squadron  is  mo\ved  down.  Over  them  ride  the  remainder,  sword 
in  hand,  up  the  mountain;  Spanish  infantry  firing  the  while,  on 
right  and  left,  in  lines  one  above  another.  When  the  Poles  have 
sabred  the  gunners  thev  have  routed  an  armv.  The  militarv 

o  ->  J  J 

critic  feels  bound  to  say,  that  the  charge,  "viewed  as  a  simple 
military  operation,  was  extravagantly  rash."  Thus  substance  dis 
perses  shadows,  and  stamps  the  difference  between  multitude  and 
force.  In  the  manifold  field  of  life  the  royal  eye,  through  the 
veil  of  circumstance,  distinguishes  the  essential;  seeing  well  the 

o  o 

things  around,  is  dazzled  by  none.  To  be  daunted  by  none  is 
next  to,  and  consequent  upon  this.  The  knowledge  of  how  to 
be  strong,  where  the  main  issue  lies,  is  the  knowledge  of  all  fields 
and  all  life. 

A  man  who  makes  realities  his  aim,  and  appearances  his  dis 
dain,  is  strange,  and  set  apart,  accordingly.  Not  under  one  Dis 
pensation  only,  but  finder  all  Dispensations,  God's  people  are  "a 
peculiar  people." 

To  live  in  the  sense  of  a  higher  accountability  than  any  fulmi- 
nations  of  this  earth,  in  the  throng  of  plausibilities  to  be  genuine, 
of  hypocrisies  to  be  devout,  to  be  retiring  among  the  Pharisees, 
faithful  among  the  cravens,  is  eccentric  necessarily.  How  should 
it  be  otherwise,  with  the  carnal  heart  in  its  existing  state  of 
enmity?  Is  not  the  true  man  bound  to  say  to  specious  sham, 
"Get  thee  behind  me"?  The  resolute,  genuine  natures  are  the 


246  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

ones,  at  last,  from  which  others  borrow  existence,  around  which 
others  rally.  The  faithful  few,  obscure  in  the  world,  but  great  in 
their  callings,  are  the  shoulders  which  move  the  world.  The 
heroes  will  always  say  to  the  trimmers,  "We  will  bear  the  brunt, 
and  leave  you  the  plunder  of  the  field" — the  pleasant  race  of 
trimmers,  the  plausible,  the  supple!  Plausible  decorum,  equally 
amiable  and  equally  indifferent  to  all  persons  and  all  opinions,  is 
not  the  stuff  of  which  Jacksons  are  made.  The  world  says  of  the 
Jackson,  "He  is  narrow."  But  better  to  cleave  a  path  for  others 
to  follow  in,  the  narrows  which  are  deep,  than  the  expanse  which 
is  broad,  because  it  is  shallow.  How  are  you  to  seduce,  how 
intimidate  such  a  man,  when  for  him  your  menace,  or  your  bribe, 
is  but  one  more  appearance  which  he  knows  how  to  despise? 

Such  a  man  was  Stonewall  Jackson — a  resolved,  taciturn  man, 
of  decided,  aquiline,  rather  uncomfortable  ways;  the  more  inex 
pugnable,  that  they  were  sternly  encased,  in  a  life  of  prayer,  as 
in  a  shirt  of  mail.  Not  a  man  to  be  popular,  it  is  plain;  not  one 
to  swim  pleasantly  with  the  current;  one  rather  to  cling  faith 
fully  to  the  rock  in  the  midst  thereof,  refusing  to  be  swept  away. 
He  cannot  wax  himself  to  men  and  things.  He  is  sincere,  ad 
heres  without  mercenary  glue,  or  parts  company.  Yet  what  in 
history  so  touching,  as  the  almost  childlike  reverence  of  Jackson 
for  the  real  majesty  of  Lee?  It  is  one  of  the  highest  praises  of 
the  latter,  that  in  proportion  as  his  subordinates  were  great,  he 
was  great  to  them.  For  one,  I  never  see  that  picture  of  Lee  and 
Jackson,  in  their  last  ride  together  by  the  Aldrich  house,  without 
thinking  that  such  a  meeting  is,  in  itself,  one  of  the  best  and 
sweetest  pictures  of  how  greatness,  of  whatever  rank,  is  the  born 
brother  of  every  other.  At  the  two  extremes  of  wealth  and  pov 
erty  we  produce  these  two.  The  extremes  meet,  not  in  hate  but 
in  love,  and,  the  facts  deserving  it,  mutual  respect  and  admira 
tion.  The  two  are  blent  together,  by  virtue  of  that  which  is  in 
herent  and  independent  in  them,  by  virtue  of  being  the  men 
they  were.  Merit,  whether  it  descended  from  the  highest,  or 
ascended  from  the  lowest,  was  free  and  equal  in  that  South  be 
fore  the  war. 

The  day  was  at  hand  which  was  to  draw  the  recluse  from  his 
retreat,  and  witness  his  coronation  before  a  gazing  and  a  gaping 
world;  when  he  who  had  sown  to  reality  repeated  realities.  The 
shadows  felt  in  him  their  substance,  when  they  heard  his  word  of 
commanc1,  amid  the  thunders  of  the  captains.  The  world  within 
him  was  greater  than  the  world  without  him.  Did  enemies 
encompass,  and  storm  in  upon  him?  With  his  right  hand,  he 
smote  them  to  ruins.  He  does  the  utmost,  who  standing  on  him 
self,  stands  true  to  himself,  and  therefore  not  falsely  but  faith- 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  247 

fully  to  others.  lie  is  the  greatest,  who  having  most  to  over 
come,  overcomes  it.  All  honor  to  him,  who  from  the  lowly  made 
himself  the  lofty,  from  the  feeble  made  himself  the  mighty,  made 
the  one  talent  ten,  and  a  world  all  hostile  to  his  weakness,  all 
vassal  to  his  greatness.  Here,  in  the  Wilderness,  it  was,  that  he, 
who  had  put  all  other  enemies  under  foot,  over  death  also  rose 
victorious;  folded  the  banner  of  victory, for  time  and  for  eternity, 
inextricably  about  him  as  he  fell.  That  ether  of  memory  and 
imagination,  which  throws  its  purple  on  the  past,  floated  from  his 
shoulders  as  we  gazed.  The  shadow  of  a  cloud  passed  over  him, 
behind  which  the  sun  was  shining.  It  might  have  been  said  at 
his  grave,  as  the  Karl  of  Morton  said  at  that  of  John  Knox,  "  He 
lies  there  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man."  He  rests  there, 
with  a  star,  Valor's  star,  upon  his  breast;  for  him  henceforth,  a 
star  of  peace.  He  himself  is  now  become  a  stir,  on  the  great 
bosom  of  Kternity.  His  long  warfare  is  over;  "he  has  fought 
the  good  fight."  The  sore  conflicts  and  bruises  under  the  strait 
ened  yoke  of  time,  its  whips  and  its  scorns,  will  gall  him  never 
more,  lie  can  survey  them  unmoved  now,  from  that  last  bosom 
wherein  he  rests,  and  the  revenges  of  time  are  furled. 

Beautiful  effect  of  a  true  life !  beautiful  event  of  our  century! 
the  story  of  Jackson  crossing  the  Atlantic,  and  spreading  among 
generous  Knglish  hearts,  comes  back  to  us,  in  the  speaking  im 
age  of  a  hero.  Knglish  gentlemen,  stamping,  in  imperishable 
art,  the  imperishable  idea  of  a  Jackson,  place  it  on  this  Square,  a 
monument  to  him  and  to  them,  and  to  an  artist  worth}"  of  his 
subject. 

"He  has  lost  his  left  arm;  I  have  lost  my  right,"  were  the 
generous  words  of  Lee  when  he  heard  of  Jackson's  wounds. 
The  blood  of  all  the  heroes  flowed  in  those  words  over  those 
wounds.  It  was  as  if,  for  the  moment,  like  the  patriarch  of  old, 
Lee  had  reversed  his  hands,  and  made  the  dexterous  lieutenant 
of  his  left  his  active  right,  and  the  less  adroit  Long-street  the 
virtual  left.  But  to  sit  on  the  right  hand,  or  the  left  hand,  of  so 
much  glory,  were  fame  enough.  And  now  it  is  given  t:>  Long- 
street,  in  a  similar  movement,  not  far  from  the  same  spot,  by 
another  fire  from  our  own  men,  to  be  felled  in  the  front  of 
triumph.  It  was  his  last,  as  it  was  his  greatest  battle.  I  well 
remember  the  deep,  respectful  silence,  with  which  the  First  how 
itzers  pressed  to  the  side  of  the  road,  as  a  white  ambulance 
passed  by,  knowing  well  whom  it  bore.  Had  Longstrcet's  wound 
proved  also  mortal,  his  niche  of  fame  stood  ready  for  him. 
Weeping  Commonwealths  would  have  acccompanied  his  bier. 
The  chivalry  and  beauty  of  a  mourning  land  would  have  been 
companions  at  his  tomb.  His  cypress  would  have  been  a  laurel. 


248  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Longstreet  survived  for  quite  other  destinies,  and  so  left  Jack 
son — alone  in  his  glory. 

I  said  in  the  beginning  that  our  whole  past  had  bpen  cut  into 
clear,  firm  character  by  the  chisel  of  war.  Equally  true  is  it  that 
the  future,  and  our  bearing  therein,  will  be  the  most  effectual 
commentary  on  our  conduct  in  the  war.  The  future  will  de 
termine  whether  the  proportions  of  that  day  shall  fall  about  our 
people  like  a  decent  robe,  or  whether  posterity  shall  turn  skeptic 
in  applying  the  armor  of  a  giant  past  to  the  body  of  a  living 
dwarf.  They  who  have  exclusively  the  past  to  be  proud  of,  in 
the  accumulation  of  their  vouchers,  provide  a  measure  for  their 
defection  and  decadence.  Such  have  been  likened  to  potatoes, 
by  far  whose  best  part  is  under  ground.  An  inordinate  Irish 
man,  tracing  his  genealogy,  paused  in  the  course  of  his  memoirs 
to  say,  "  Here  the  world  was  created."  But  a  not  wholly  incom 
mensurable  appetite  can  appease  itself,  as  Chesterfield  entertained 
himself,  by  placing,  among  the  portraits  of  his  ancestors,  two  old 
heads  inscribed  "Adam  de  Stanhope"  and  "Eve  de  Stanhope." 
"  Every  man,"  says  Sancho  Panza,  "is  the  son  of  his  own  works." 
Perhaps  the  most  sorrowful  fate  which  can  overtake  a  people  is 
when  a  tradition  of  old  greatness,  in  truth,  the  mockery,  is  ac 
cepted  as  the  solace  of  downfall  and  humiliation.  The  proud 
past  is  a  robe  of  scorn  to  the  unequal  present. 

There  are  some  who  dispose  of  the  whole  matter  of  the  war, 
in  a  very  off-hand  manner.  "What  did  we  make  by  it?"  they 
ask,  conscious  that  the  pecuniary  returns  are  in  a  state  of  great 
backwardness.  It  is  as  if  one  were  to  ask  of  Milton's  great 
poem,  "How  much  did  he  get  for  it?"  And  yet  heroic  writing 
is  a  small  thing  by  the  side  of  heroic  living  and  dying.  William 
Attig,  engineer  upon  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  railroad,  with  the 
air-brakes  on,  and  his  hand  upon  the  throttle,  kept  off  death 
from  every  other,  while  it  steamed  down  upon  himself.  Was 
the  subscription  for  his  widow  what  he  made  by  it?  Those  three 
hundred  Spartans  who,  on  a  summer  morning,  in  the  passes  of 
Thermopylae,  "sat  combing  their  long  nair  for  death" — what  did 
they  make  by  it?  What  did  Joan  of  Arc  make  by  it,  with  the 
Inquisition  cap  upon  her  head,  burned  to  death  for  a  witch,  her 
ashes  thrown  into  the  Seine?  What  did  Wallace  make  by  it, 
betrayed,  beheaded,  his  body  quartered  and  impaled  on  London 
Bridge,  a  green  garland  on  his  head  to  crown  him  outlaw  king? 
She  seated  the  descendant  of  Saint  Louis  for  three  centuries  on 
his  throne.  She  and  her  maiden  sword,  she  and  her  consecrated 
banner,  she  and  her  beauty  risen  from  her  ashes,  pure  as  the 
lilies  of  France  and  magnificent  as  the  oriflamme,  make  the 
France  of  to-day  beautiful  to  Frenchmen.  And  Wallace!  He 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  249 

and  the  Scots  who- bled  with  him,  made  the  independent  mind  of 
Scotland  too  strong  for  any  subjugation;  they  made  her  inde 
pendence  real,  and  her  subjugation  superficial,  and  left  the  name 
of  Wallace  "a  wild  flower  all  over  his  dear  country."  They 
sowed  for  the  immortal  gods.  Defeat  for  duty  is  better  than 
victory  over  it.  My  belief  is  that  great  things  are  never  done 
for  what  can  be  made  by  them.  Their  returns  are  not  contained 
in  such  sordid  measure.  Reputation  wrung  from  the  cannon's 
mouth  is  not  a  bubble. 

There  have  been  latter-day  patriots  who  have  avowed  their 
intention  to  " make  treason  odious";  no  insignificant  intent,  on 
their  part,  considering  how  many  of  earth's  greatest  have  con 
spired  to  make  it  glorious,  when  the  "treason"  in  question  has 
meant  resistance  to  authority  believed  to  be  unlawful,  and  known 
to  be  injurious,  which  is  the  definition  in  the  latter-day  case. 
Our  earlier  Presidents  called  it  "obedience  to  God."  The  Tory 
Allison  can  give  lessons  in  liberalism  to  the  latter-day  variety. 
"The  feelings  of  mankind,"  he  writes,  "have  never  stigmatized 
mere  treason  as  a  crime."  And  again,  speaking  of  the  Count 
Bathiany:  "  History  must  ever  mourn  the  death  upon  the  scaffold 
of  any  man  of  a  noble  cher.icter,  combatting  for  what  in  sincerity 
he  believed  to  be  the  cause  of  duty."  The  feelings  of  mankind 
and  our  earlier  Presidents  have  a  great  deal  in  their  favor.  First, 
to  take  all  pains  to  know  aright  what  our  duty  is,  and  then  to 
fight  for  it  in  all  weather,  is  what  we  are  here  to  do.  Mere  con 
querors  who  have  taken  no  such  pains  are  not  our  judges,  but 
our  visitation  for  not  more  warily  and  desperately  fighting. 

The  murderer  has  but  his  hour,"  said  Lamartine  of  the  fate  of 
the  Duke  d'Enghien;  "his  victim  has  all  eternity." 

Truth,  it  may  be  well  to  state,  has  never  been  bastillecl  nor 
carried  by  coup  dV'tat.  With  what  a  satire,  does  accusing  and 
avenging  time  laugh  to  scorn  the  executions  of  the  hour.  In 
some  English  engravings,  under  the  heads  of  Sir  Thomas  More, 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Russel,  and  Sidney,  there  is  engraved  an  axe, 
to  signify  that  in  their  day  these  were  beheaded.  But  how  fares 
it  with  their  renown?  Is  that  beheaded?  Or  is  it  consecrated 
by  the  nobility  of  a  peculiar  clearness?  There  is  no  face  in  the 
Corcoran  Art  Gallery  before  which  more  reverent  footsteps  pause 
than  that  of  Charlotte  Corday.  The  pen,  mightier  than  the  sword 
of  the  executioner,  is  in  her  hands,  with  which  she  has  written, 
"The  crime,  not  the  scaffold,  makes  the  shame."  What  a  sure 
hand  it  is!  "Mere  treason"  in  this  case  is  not  the  crime.  The 
crime  is  to  be  a  "  savage  wild  beast "  (to  be  Marat,  rami  du  pcuplc], 
feeding  on  human  heads,  who,  God  be  praised!  has  been  slain  by 
this  Norman  girl.  She  stands  behind  her  grated  window,  through 


25O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

which  she  looks,  with  a  still,  deep  pathos,  piercing  all  hearts, 
from  the  blue  heaven  of  eyes  whose  sun  is  setting  fast,  whose 
€arthly  sun,  indeed,  in  seeming,  still  trembling  on  the  horizon,  in 
reality,  already,  is  below  it,  leaving  a  setting  sun's  light  upon  the 
face.  A  look  of  eternity  is  gazing  far  over  this  restless  earth 
into  eternity.  With  her  last  hold  upon  earth  clasped  upon  her 
prison  grate,  one  almost  fancies  the  thorn  halo  upon  the  brow 
leant  thereon,  which  the  iron  seems  to  enter;  a  halo,  whose 
radiance  down-glancing  bestows,  by  a  two-fold  but  not  divided 
light,  tenderness  and  grandeur.  The  warmth  of  a  sweetly-in 
trepid  soul  hovers,  for  the  last  time,  upon  a  breast  which  her 
neckerchief  not  quite  conceals.  The  bravest  heart  in  France 
beats  under  the  fairest  bosom.  She  lives  on  canvas,  an  image  of 
the  soul,  passionately,  but  invincibly,  gazing  through  the  bars  of 
its  prison-house  in  the  flesh,  as  a  bird  imprints  his  breast-feathers 
against  the  imprisoning  wires  of  his  cage.  We,  in  America,  send 
for  this  warm,  sweet  soul  of  Normandy,  and  place  it  in  the  front 
of  art. 

What  is  it  makes  the  real  odiousness  of  treason?  Whether  it 
be  high  treason,  whether  it  be  petit  treason;  whether  it  be  against 
society,  against  marriage,  or  any  other  relation  of  contract  or 
affection;  is  not  the  essence  of  it, that  which  makes  it  detestable, 
this :  that  it  is  perfidy,  betrayal,  a  breach  of  faith  that  is  owed 
and  pretended;  in  a  word,  that  is  treacherous?  The  essence  of 
it  is  falseness,  an  alliance  or  allegiance  which  is  an  an  acted  lie. 
The  definition  is  as  old  as  the  Mirror,  and  older;  treason  happens 
only  between  allies;  arises  where  there  is  a  subsisting  natural, 
civil,  or  spiritual  relation.  A  public  and  authoritative  announce 
ment,  that  a  voluntary  alliance,  between  free  and  equal  contract 
ing  commonwealths,  shall  subsist  no  longer,  is  not  an  act  of 
treachery,  especially,  if  the  reason  for  revoking  on  one  side  be 
the  practical  and  statutory  abrogation  on  the  other.  It  is  the 
reverse  of  treachereous;  it  is  putting  another  on  his  guard,  say 
ing  to  him,  "Take  notice,  we  are  no  longer  allies;  we  are  aliens.'' 
The  Roman  word  is  proditio — the  giving  forth  of  an  appearance 
which  has  no  backbone  of  reality.  One  living  in  the  guise  of 
friendly  association  and  confidence,  furtively  stabs  you  under  the 
fifth  rib.  Open  war  the  brave  man  accepts  as  his  discipline. 
Insidious,  perfidious  guile  he  is  less  apt  to  prepare  for.  Wash 
ington  fighting  at  the  head  of  the  Rebels  against  George  III  is 
a  true  man.  Arnold  fighting  in  the  ranks  of  the  loyal  for  George 
III  is  a  traitor.  It  may  be  admitted  that  deceit  is  a  terrible  evil. 
Closely  considered,  and  including  self-deceit,  it  is  the  sum  and 
substance  of  all  that  is  most  pernicious.  It  is  the  Devil's  own 
image.  As  we  live,  there  is  but  one  thing  to  do  with  it — to  beat 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  25  I 

It  down  under  our  feet,  and  not  comfort  it  when  fallen.  Would 
you  know  whether  a  deed  is  vile  or  not?  Ask  yourself  the  ques 
tion,  whether  the  traits  of  it  are  cowardice  and  lies,  treachery  or 
poltroonery  to  what  is  professed  and  believed;  in  either  case 
hiding,  under  a  false  appearance,  the  fearfulness  or  the  disguise 
of  fact — the  last  a  subtler,  sometimes  a  coarser  form  of  fear.  In 
proportion  as  these  arc  the  traits  it  is  vile.  In  proportion  as 
these  are  not,  not.  Are  you  willing  for  the  light  to  shine  upon 
your  deeds,  or  must  they  be  shrouded  in  darkness?  is  the  test. 
Man  does  walk  by  faith;  hence  the  worst  thing  you  can  say  of  a 
man  is  that  he  is  perfidious,  diligently  seems  the  thing  he  is  not, 
and  so  betrays,  by  what  he  is,  the  confidence  bestoweecl  on  what 
he  seems.  To  be  a  man,  with  a  man's  sense  of  accountability, 
is  one  of  the  very  greatest  commandments. 

What,  then,  was  the  crime  of  the  Southern  States?  Was  it 
that  after  having  reiterated  in  season,  and  out  of  season,  shouting 
the  same  loudly  from  the  house-tops,  that  they  would  resume 
the  powers,  conditionally  granted  by  them  to  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  whenever  the  same  should  be  perverted  to  their  injury, 
when  the  day  of  trial  came  they  were  recreant;  was  it  this?  Was 
it  that  after  having  affirmed  that  they  had  given  their  adhesion, 
not  to  a  law  higher  than  the  constitution,  nor  lower  than  the  con 
stitution,  but  to  the  constitution,  the  whole  constitution,  and  noth 
ing  but  the  constitution;  and  that  whenever  such  "higher  law" 
laid  hold  of  the  Government,  they  would  let  go;  when  the  event 
happened,  they  swallowed  their  words;  was  it  this?  Xo,  it  was 
not  this.  Their  offence  was,  that  to  the  unspeakable  abomina 
tion  of  their  enemies,  they  made  good  their  words,  would  not 
equivocate  oath  and  conscience,  did  what  they  said  they  would 
do.  And  how?  In  silence,  in  darkness,  with  Masonic  secrecy 
and  rites?  Xo;  this  thine:  was  not  done  in  a  corner.  In  broad 

o 

day,  State  after  State  went  to  the  polls  to  vote  upon  the  peril  and 
the  duty  of  the  hour.  In  broad  day,  their  representatives  as 
sembled  themselves  in  conventions,  and  their  proceedings  in  the 
daily  press,  that  no  man  might  be  ignorant.  In  broad  day, 
Senator  after  Senator  rose  in  the  Capitol  and  said,  "  Your  Morrill 
tariff  construction,  your  lobby  and  jobbery  construction,  your 
States  passing  laws  that  the  constitution  is  a  dead  letter,  your 
'higher  law'  construction,  is  no  law  for  us,  and  in  the  nature  of 
things  cannot  be.  'We  agreed  to  form  this  Union,'  you  say. 
Grant  that  we  agreed  to  form,  at  least,  the  Union.  What  then? 
Did  we  agree  that  it  should  be  absolute,  irrevocable,  unappealable, 
not  only  for  the  generation  agreeing,  but  for  all  generations?  Do 
men  calling  themselves  republicans  hold  that  we  did?  Why,  a 
king  can  give  no  more  than  his  own ;  may  resign  his  own  throne, 


252  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

if  he  like,  but  less  certainly  than  that  of  his  offspring.  And  you 
have  the  hardihood  to  say  that  we,  equals  contracting  with 
equals — we  who  being  solicited,  entreated,  assured,  guaranteed — 
gave  our  consent  to  certain  conditions  of  union  upon  the  very 
construction  on  which  we  are  now  acting,  that  we  thereby  clasped 
a  handcuff  of  steel  upon  our  wrists  forever?  Why,  the  law  is, 
that  no  contract  shall  last  forever.  Say  that  you  found  your  right 
of  action  on  a  contract  meant  to  be  perpetual,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  will  laugh  in  your  face.  Rightly,  for  what  man,  or  what 
number  of  men,  can  so  read  the  future  as  justly  to  bind  the  un 
born  of  all  time?  Least  of  all  should  they  maintain  such  a  doc 
trine  who  utterly  refuse  to  be  bound  themselves.  We  use  the 
language  of  your  own  Webster,  in  prospect  of  the  very  case 
which  has  arisen,  that  'a  bargain  broken  on  one  side  is  broken 
on  all  sides,'  and  say  you  have  broken  the  bargain  on  all  sides. 
Fourteen  of  your  States  having  passed  laws  saying  that  the  bar 
gain  shall  be  inoperative  as  to  them,  how  can  you  expect  it  to  be 
altogether  sacred  to  us?  We  cannot  bring  you  to  our  views,  nor 
will  we  surrender  the  law  to  your  discretion.  If  your  consciences 
cannot  bear  the  sin  of  suffering  us  to  hold  the  slaves  which  you 
sold  to  us,  we  will  relieve  your  consciences  of  all  participation 
therein.  You  shall  have  no  more  concern  in  the  matter  than  in 
the  institutions  of  Brazil.  Saying  good-bye  to  you,  we  will  re 
vive  over  ourselves  the  Union  our  ancestors  ordained;  'the  civil, 
the  moral,  the  federal  liberty,'  for  which  Washington  fought,  for 
which  Jefferson,  Henry  and  Mason  insisted,  and  which  Marshall 
and  Hamilton  conceded  as  a  fact.  For  this  we  mean  to  stand 
with  the  hazard  of  our  lives.  All  outnumbered  and  outclamored 
as  we  are,  God  help  us,  we  can  do  no  other."  Make  the  worst 
of  this  "treason,"  you  can  never  make  it  other  than  manly,  and 
frank,  and  true.  Southern  secession  came,  not  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfill. 

"Caught  with  arms  in  their  hands"  is  what  was  said  of  us 
afterwards.  And  how  else  should  brave  men  be  "caught"  than 
"with  arms  in  their  hands"  when  all  that  is  dear  to  them,  and  all 
that  should  be  dear  to  them,  is  assailed?  It  passes  the  power  of 
any  statute  to  make  this  "odious,"  save  to  the  pusillanimous  and 
corrupt.  To  fight  manfully  for  your  faith  in  right  is  intrinsically 
not  "odious";'  it  is  very  nearly  the  whole  duty  of  man.  We 
were  brought  to  the  ring,  and  the  world  has  seen  how  we  could 
dance. 

Undoubtedly  there  is  a  treason  which  is  odious;  being  so,  no 
statute,  no  verdict,  no  failure  to  impeach  can  make  it  otherwise. 
Let  no  man  doubt  this.  There  is  a  treason  which  is  deadly; 
being  so,  no  physic  of  legislation,  and  standing  by  it  "under 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  253 

fire,"  can  make  it  healthy;  not  the  avowed,  open  treason  to 
usurpation,  not  the  treason  of  the  glorious  Rebels  who  are  fol 
lowed  by  "the  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just" — the  paradoxical 

treason  which  is  true;  not  this.     The  deadly  treason  is  cau<jht. 

•  . 

not    "with    arms    in    its   hands,"  but    with   a   smile   on    its    lips. 

Patriots,  who,  with  unheard  of  love  of  country,  bend  the  bow  of 
legislation,  so  as  to  make  it  shoot  straight  into  their  own  pockets, 
these  are  the  deadly  traitors;  they  who  place  votes  "where  they 
will  do  most  good."  To  their  country?  No;  to  bank  accounts 
which  they  protest  against  having  to  account  for.  The  treason 
which  walks  by  your  side  and  thrives  on  your  spoliation,  which 
from  behind  a  marble  desk  of  supremacy,  or  other  "  inside  track," 
knocks  down  law  to  the  highest  bidder,  do  you  not  see  how 
baleful  this  polished,  plausible  treason  must  be;  how  it  changes 
the  rod  of  empire  into  a  serpent;  how  it  makes  of  government 
a  nest  of  serpents  stinging  the  veins  of  the  people  on  whom  they 
fasten?  The  detestable  treason  is  that  which  dips  in  the  same 
dish  with  you,  and  salutes  with  a  kiss;  and  now  the  treason 
which  the  builders  rejected,  the  rebuilders  have  made  the  corner 
stone!  They  are  not  the  most  meet  to  make  treason  of  any  kind 
odious,  who  have  made  fraud  of  every  kind  glorious.  "Clear 
and  round  dealing"  in  any  department  of  life,  even  that  of  forci 
ble  resistance,  is  not  the  great  danger  to  society.  It  is  "the  lie 
that  sinketh  in,  and  scttleth  in  it,  that  doth  the  hurt."  Yes,  the 
evil  men  of  this^world  are  not  the  ones  who  sincerely  battle  for 
their  duty,  but  the  insincere  who  do  not. 

Xo,  latter-day  patriots  should  give  over  their  purpose  to  "  make 
treason  odious."  Somebody  should  remonstrate  with  them.  To 
borrow  the  needed  word,  they  will  find  it  a  most  Herculean  labor 
for  very  unherculean  backs.  The  halo,  which  Washington  and 
others  have  thrown  around  the  name  of  Rebel  (which  did  apply 
to  Washington  and  not  to  us)  will  have  to  be  revoked,  if  at  all, 
by  an  instrument  of  equal  dignity.  But  if  a  magnanimous  power 
were  seriously  to  bestir  itself  to  make  fraud  odious,  instead  of 
releasing  it  from  the  four  quarters,  and  from  the  hind  quarters,  to 
sit  at  the  receipt  of  custom!  John  Bright  said  in  1861 :  "When 
I  state  that,  for  many  years  past,  the  annual  public  expenditure 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  between  £10,- 
000,000  and  ,£15,000,000,  I  need  not,  perhaps,  say  further,  that 
there  has  always  existed  amongst  all  the  population  an  amount 
of  comfort,  and  prosperity,  and  abounding  plenty,  such  as  I  be 
lieve  no  other  country  has  enjoyed."  So  it  was.  So  it  is  not 
now.  We  have  received  "moral  ideas,"  been  "educated  up"; 
but  comparatively  honest  dealing  between  man  and  man,  and 
therewith  "comfort,  prosperity,  abounding  plenty"  amongst  all 


254  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

classes  have  been  educated  down.  The  laboring  man  of  the 
North  has  been  "planted  on  the  side  of  freedom" — of  freedom, 
among  other  things,  to  be  turned  out  of  food  and  raiment,  and 
have  an  increase  of  the  army  held  over  his  head  to  shoot  him 
down  when  restive.  Of  taxes,  burdens,  swift,  central  financiering 
over  public  spoil,  there  is  plenty.  Of  freedom  to  steal  like  the 
devil,  there  is  an  abounding  plenty.  Never  was  it  plainer  that 
for  man  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  is  cursed. 
But  the  negro  in  the  South  can  still  do,  what  the  laboring  man 
elsewhere  finds  it  so  hard  to  do — get  himself  supported  by  a 
fair  day's  work.  What  if  the  future  decide  that  the  world,  as 
usual,  has  judged  by  appearances?  What  if  the  future  shall 
say,  that  what  the  world  called  slavery,  railed  against  as  such, 
rolling  up  the  whites  of  quite  worldly  eyes,  in  horror  that  such 
a  thing  should  exist,  stands  forth  as  a  patriarchal,  beneficent  re 
lation,  the  kindest  for  the  slave,  as  he  came  to  us,  not  as  French's 
"rights  of  man"  fain  would  have  him  come;  and  what  is  now 
lauded  to  the  skies,  as  "freedom,"  be  exhibited,  as  a  cruel,  grasp 
ing  sauve  qui pent,  and  Devil  take  the  hindmost,  the  most  sordid, 
the  most  heartless  of  all  tyranny,  the  one  which  most  degrad- 
ingly,  and  least  pitifully,  shoves  the  weakest  to  the  wall,  arid 
keeps  him  there — that  which  oscillates  between  mere  numbers 
and  mere  dollars?  Wolves,  it  is  said,  have  greatly  increased  in 
Russia  since  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  and  now  number 
some  two  hundred  thousand,  whose  annual  consumption  of  flesh, 
including  that  of  human  beings,  is  twenty-three  hundred  weight 
per  head.  In  other  ways,  what  is  baptized  with  the  fine  names 
of  freedom  and  philanthropy  is  only  too  apt  to  substitute,  for  one 
traffic  in  human  flesh,  another  more  bitter.  Most  plaintive  was 
the  speech  of  a  Lowell  factory  girl,  some  years  ago,  at  a  wo 
man's  rights  convention,  in  Washington,  that  no  condition  of  a 
Southern  slave  was  ever  so  cruel  as  her's. 

A  portion  of  the  North  begin  to  recognize,  that  the  views  of 
strict  construction  are  not  so  pernicious  after  all;  show  signs  of 
feeling  their  own  need  to  interpose  the  shield  of  State  sover 
eignty,  against  a  roaring  deluge  of  fallacy.  The  more  thoughtful 
North  stands  aghast  at  the  undesired  results  "coming  home  to 
roost,"  of  the  utter  overthrow  of  all  the  stability  of  society,  in 
order  to  wreak  vengeance.  The  more  thoughtful  North  is 
stretching  out  a  hand  for  the  character,  and  high,  even  if  haughty, 
tone  of  sincere  opinion,  once  common  at  the  South,  which,  if 
not  proof  against  passion,  was  against  bribery,  and  helped  to 
make  the  country  a  fortress  of  free  hearts,  whence  rang  the  clear 
challenge  of  a  republic.  The  old  constitutional  guarantees,  the 
old  ramparts  have  been  carried.  A  constitution  (not  clearly 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  255 

written)  powerful  for  injury,  powerless  for  redress;  powerful  to 
send  troops  and  mercenary  creatures  to  falsify  the  votes  of  States, 
powerless  to  correct,  or  even  attempt  to  correct,  the  certain  false 
hood,  for  the  present,  has  "changed  all  that."  The  light  of 
those  tall  forms,  which  stood  in  the  breaches  of  the  Constitution 
to  hurl  impetuous  defiance  on  its  foes,  is  buried  quite.  The  for 
tress  of  free  hearts  lies  clean  behind  us,  dead,  forgotten;  the  old 
defenders  gone,  the  old  invincibles.  The  thoughtful  North 
stretches  out  its  hands  to-day  for  that  spirit,  which  a  thoughtless 
North  has  done  its  best  (or  its  worst)  to  quench  and  silence. 
The  long  walls  of  Athens  were  rebuilt,  with  the  aid  of  the  Boeo 
tians  and  other  volunteers,  who  eleven  years  earlier  had  danced  to 
the  sound  of  joyful  music,  when  the  former  walls  were  demol 
ished.  Thus  sometimes  the  conqueror  crowns  the  conquered, 
when  the  conquered  are  true  to  themselves.  Thaunus  mentions 
a  minister,  who  having  long  been  persecuted  by  his  enemies,  at 
length  triumphed,  qnia  sc  non  dcscniit. 

Old  grammarians  were  wont  to  say,  that  right  was  the  past 
participle  of  the  verb  rcgcrc,  to  rule;  and  thus  it  is  that  virtue  is 
strength,  manhood.  The  force  by  which  strength  is  equipped  for 
its  battle  is  virtue.  The  King  of  the  State  is  the  Rex  of  it,  the 
very  right  of  it — champion  and  captain  of  the  right.  lie  who 
collects  in  himself,  embosoms  and  enforces  that  which  is  wisest 
and  best,  he  is  the  king,  in  office  or  out  of  office,  lie  is  the  ex 
pression  of  the  better  nature  of  the  State,  the  captain  of  it  and 
the  child,  by  virtue  of  which  his  right  to  rule  is  divine.  Under 
him  royalty  and  loyalty,  or  law-alty,  become  reciprocal.  A  bravev 
old  word  this  loyalty,  though  sadly  profaned  of  late,  because  it 
does  not  mean  subservience  to  Kings,  or  Presidents,  or  Con 
gresses,  or  Unions;  but  faithfulness  to  law.  Veracity,  rectitude,, 
business  method,  intrepid  justice,  these  are  the  strong  indomi 
table  things.  These  are  the  rulers  of  men,  or  else  revolution 
comes,  because  they  are  not  so.  Falsehood,  dishonesty,  immethod, 
venal,  cowardly  indifference,  these  are  the  weak  things,  the  shal 
low  things,  and  abomination  and  anarchy  are  born  of  them.  The 
laws  of  nature  are  "caught  with  arms  in  their  hands,"  and  sel 
dom  or  never  lay  them  down,  whatever  the  "inside  track"  men 
may  object.  The  flaming  sword  of  the  universe  is  never  "a  dead 
issue."  All  this  about  arbitrament  of  wTar,  true  enough,  perhaps, 
in  a  comprehensive  sense,  is,  in  some  applications  of  it,  extremely 
shallow.  The  arbitraments  arrived  at,  "when  laws  are  silent," 
when  all  consideration  and  discussion  of  the  right  is  told  to  hold 
its  tongue,  are  always  questionable,  and  liable  to  serious  revision. 
A  King  of  England  conquered  a  discordant  French  nation,  be 
cause  it  was  discordant;  which,  thereupon,  under  compulsion 


256  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

crowned  the  conqueror.  The  thing  settled  was,  that,  at  the  time 
of  the  invasion,  England  was  strong  and  France  was  weak,  and 
that,  as  a  nation's  strength  is,  so  shall  her  day  be.  In  a  subtle 
sense,  "he  that  liveth  by  the  sword"  (by  brute  force,  violation  of 
right)  "shall  perish  by  the  sword."  "A  right,"  says  Coke,  "can 
never  die — dormit  aliquando,jus  moritur  nunquam.  For  of  such 
an  high  estimation  is  right  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  as  the  law  pre- 
serveth  it  from  death  and  destruction;  trodden  down  it  may  be, 
but  never  trodden  out."  Yes,  the  right  does  not  go  down;  does 
not  stay  down,  at  least.  It  does  not  truly  sleep,  but  only  seems 
to  sleep.  Whatever  mean  and  base  thing  pollutes  it  goes  down. 
The  too  haughty  assertion  of  it  goes  down.  Whatever  abuses 
and  excesses  are  covered  by  the  flag  of  its  adherents,  their  "neg 
ligences  and  ignorances,"  their  fierce  taunts  and  invectives,  go 
down,  but  not  the  right,  forever.  We  may  prove  that  we  are 
unworthy  to  be  the  champions  of  the  right,  but  not  that  the 
right  is  unworthy  of  a  champion.  The  mercy  of  the  right  is 
upon  us,  as  our  trust  is  in  it.  The  service  of  it  is  freedom.  Free 
dom,  let  me  say  once  more,  is  the  free  dominion  of  the  law. 

Unless  we  are  to  sink  into  hopeless  Mexican  anarchy  and  Ring 
ruin,  out  of  panic  bankruptcy  will  yet  be  lifted  "the  Federal 
Union."  But  should  this  happen,  that  our  principles  come  again 
to  the  front,  and  we  not  behind  them ;  but  opposing  them,  have 
the  convictions,  consecrated  by  our  blood,  thrown  in  our  teeth 
by  those  who  trod  them  down !  This  much  has  not  ceased  to  be 
credible:  J^rodden  down  they  may  be,  but  never  trodden  out! 

We  are  few  in  the  midst  of  many  enemies.  The  black  ocean 
of  implacable  hate  swells  all  around  us.  At  its  own  weapons 
we  cannot  foil  it.  The  much-vaunted  "fighting  the  Devil  with 
fire"  is  a  poor  game,  and  a  sadly  unequal  one.  Give  the  Devil 
choice  of  pistols,  and  he  will  be  apt  to  shoot  you  first.  Fallacies 
and  chicaneries  fight  only  for  the  father  of  such.  It  becomes  us, 
it  becomes  all  men,  but  chiefest  them  who  fight  under  an  adverse 
star,  to  see  and  believe,  that  the  moral  victory  over  material 
ascendancy  is  never  out  of  reach.  No  disparity  of  force  can 
snatch  that  from  us.  Public  opinion  is  the  moral  victory  of  the 
few  over  the  many.  Be  the  faithful  few,  and  the  faithless  many 
will  be  your  footstool.  In  the  sophistry  of  mind  and  mannars, 
to  be  intellectually  honest  and  brave;  in  the  recrimination,  and 
anarchic  fratricide,  of  capital  and  labor  elsewhere,  to  keep  our 
own  society  first  just,  then,  as  a  consequence,  peaceful  and 
strong;  in  the  hanging  garden  of  appearance  to  be  real:  herein 
is  true  strength. 

Had  the  Soullicrn  Historical  Society  done  nothing  else  than  ex 
pose,  what  has  been  termed,  "one  of  the  boldest  and  baldest  at- 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  25  / 

tempted  outrages  on  the  truth  of  history  which  has  ever  been 
essayed,"  that  which  relates  to  the  treatment  of  prisoners  at 
Andersonville,  it  would  have  deserved  the  gratitude  of  all  lovers 
of  truth.  The  boldest  and  baldest  truly!  220,000  Southern 
prisoners  are  in  the  North;  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 
Northern  prisoners  are  in  the  South;  the  North  abounds  in  re 
sources;  the  South  laid  waste,  anything  but  abounding;  for  three 
weeks  in  the  early  part  of  1864  unable  to  issue  rations  of  meat 
to  her  soldiers  in  the  field.  Yet,  with  fifty  thousand  more  pris 
oners  in  Southern  stockades,  the  deaths  are  four  thousand  less; 
nine  per  cent,  the  death  rate  in  the  South,  twelve  per  cent,  in  the 
North.  The  South,  using  ever}-  humane  argument,  entreats  the 
North  to  take  back  the  prisoners  at  Andersonville.  The  ruling 
authority  says,  "No;  my  policy  of  wearing  you  out  by  attrition 
demands  that  these  men  be  not  taken  back.  The  more  of  our 
men  you  have  to  feed,  the  fewer  of  your  own  you  will  be  able  to 
feed.  Humanity  to  the  men  left  in  our  ranks  demands  that  our 
prisoners  continue  to  prey  upon  your  vitals."  "We  are  unable 
to  provide  your  prisoners  with  suitable  clothing,"  we  said  to 
Secretary  Seward;  "will  you  provide  them?"  "The  Federal 
Government  does  not  supply  clothing  to  prisoners  of  war,"  re 
plied  the  Secretary.  Tried  by  their  own  standard,  it  is  seen  that 
our  care  of  their  prisoners  was  exceptionally  kind.  Nevertheless, 
after  the  war  a  victim  is  demanded.  A  group  of  citizens,  "organ 
ized  to  convict,"  unknown  to  the  law,  prohibited  by  the  law, 
hears  what  evidence  it  likes,  refuses  to  hear  what  may  operate 
against  the  end  in  view,  renders  the  presence  of  counsel  nugatory, 
and  in  due  season  proceeds  to  murder  the  victim,  nn  form  or 
principle  of  law  being  at  anytime  consulted.  "  Military  com 
missions  never  disappoint  the  expectations  of  those  who  employ 
them."  It  is  the  act  of  Macbeth,  smearing  the  daggers  of  the 
guard  with  the  blood  his  own  hands  have  spilled.  Defend  your 
great  days. 

A  poem  of  human  life  our  battle  of  the  Wildernes  easily  be 
comes,  fought  as  it  was  in  the  rough  brake,  and  the  deep  shadow, 
and  the  fierce  death  glare.  As  you  strike  with  intelligent  unity 
and  decision,  determined  to  conquer  or  die,  you  do  conquer  even 
though  you  die.  At  all  times  the  strongest  is  but  as  a  reed 
shaken  with  the  wind,  quivering  in  the  play  of  forces  which 
threaten  or  entreat.  Not  alone  of  memory  may  it  be  said,  "  Thou, 
like  the  world,  the  oppressed,  oppressing."  The  forces  around 
human  life  are  so.  A  world  of  forces,  yielding,  and  taking  the 
shape  we  give,  harsh  and  heavy  when  we  quail  or  sink,  wraps 
itself  around  each,  to  bear  or  forbear  as  victory  inclines.  Does 
-supineness  intervene?  The  load  of  a  mountain  is  hung  about 


258  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

the  neck.  Does  a  cheery  heart  stiffen  the  spinal  column?  The 
hard  adversity  melts  away,  or  curves  into  an  arch  of  triumph. 
"Two  afflictions  well  put  together,"  says  the  proverb,  "shall  be 
come  a  consolation."  A  poem  of  human  life,  I  say.  Under  the 
warm  touch,  the  stern  fact  of  these  two  days  moulds  itself  into 
a  symbol  of  imagination  for  the  mind's  eye:  as  such  is  a  reality; 
not  for  one  place  and  time  only,  but  for  all  places,  from  genera 
tion  to  generation. 

The  life  of  to-day  has  not  ceased  to  be  faithful  to  the  old  sim 
iles  of  the  Wilderness  and  warfare.  Our  life  is  a  battle  and  a 
march.  We  fight  once  more  in  "continual,  poisoned  fields," 
where,  it  may  be,  are  many  greatly  discontented  with  the  Wil 
derness,  and  very  greatly  indeed  preferring  the  flesh-pots  of  any 
other  country.  Solemnly  as  ever  a  mother  State  says  to  each: 
"With  your  shield  or  upon  it."  We  have  chiefly  to  see  to  it, 
that  when  we  are  borne  from  the  field,  it  shall  be  with  the  banner 
of  a  honorable  day,  and  a  pious  hope,  flung  over  us,  and  a  music 
of  gentle  deeds  to  commemorate  us  when  we  are  gone.  So  fares 
it  with  our  cause.  It  sleeps  well  now,  as  a  dead  man  might,  with 
a  stone  for  his  pillow.  So  fares  it  with  a  cause,  henceforth  all  eno- 
bled  for  us,  by  honorable  death  on  the  field;  guarded  henceforth 
by  the  army  of  the  dead,  whose  dead  march  the  muffled  drum 
of  living  hearts  is  beating.  A  hero  cause  borne  on  its  shield  to 
the  grave  of  hero  death,  pierced  with  wounds,  for  us  is  lovely; 
covered  with  reproach,  for  us  is  pure;  crowned  with  thorns,  for 
us  is  holy.  We  will  never  weave  a  grander  oriflamme  to  be  our 
fair  image  of  duty  and  the  path  to  it.  We  are  on  duty  still. 
Remember  the  Wilderness!  how  we  struck  in  forlorn  valor;  fight 
ing  for  a  world's  cause,  in  the  midst  of  a  world's  indifference, 
when  we  grappled  in  those  lonely  gleams  and  shadows,  as,  from 
age  to  age,  the  true  heart  flights.  When  was  the  hero's  battle 
other  than  a  lonely  battle?  Remember  the  whole  war! 

Tenderly  beautiful  to-night,  in  its  tears  and  for  them,  with  the 
sweet,  pathetic  beauty  of  our  last  sad  farewells,  is  that  great 
memory,  which  draws  us  here,  and  gathers  all  hearts  in  one. 
The  saddest,  sternest  of  all  faces — the  face  of  the  irrevocable — 
stares  on  us  from  those  farewells — farewells  of  hope,  farewells  of 
valor,  farewells  wrung  out,  not  in  speech,  but  in  silence  and 
closed  lips,  in  battle  and  in  night,  when  the  very  stars  glittered 
icy  cold  on  the  field  of  the  slain.  The  spring  and  summer  of  a 
people's  manhood,  the  manly  sweetness  of  the  warrior  boy,  the 
beautiful  simplicity  we  shall  never  see  again  on  this  earth,  the 
unbought  valor,  which  fronted  a  world  in  arms,  and  died  front 
ing—to  all  these  our  chivalrous  farewell!  Not  till  all  noble  grace 
departs  will  their  memory  depart!  Last  Sunday  I  stood  again,. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRIVATE    LEIGH    ROBINSON.  259 

where  Gregg's  Texans  put  on  immortality;  where  Kershaw  led 
in  person  three  of  his  brigades,  to  compensate  them  for  the  ab 
sence  of  the  fourth;  where  the  three  brigades  under  Mahone 
charged  whooping  through  the  woods.  Out  of  the  mist  of  years 
I  almost  seemed  to  see  the  faces,  and  out  of  the  buried  din  to 
hear  the  voices,  of  the  past,  speaking  those  old  languages,  so 
frank,  so  brave,  so  unapproachably  dear,  just  because  they  are 
gone,  and  return  no  more.  They  died  that  we  might  not  live  in 
vain.  It  is  for  us  so  to  live,  that  they  shall  not  have  died  in  vain. 
And  if,  to-night,  this  voice  from  the  ranks  could  reach  the  lead 
ers,  who  now  marshal  the  way  before  us,  I  would  say,  "Look 
there!  See  what  the  noble  in  man  can  do!  At  your  peril  op 
pose  to  it  the  ignoble  in  man.  Appeal  once  more  to  the  watch 
words  of  the  past,  to  our  courage  and  our  conscience,  if  you 
would  renew  for  us,  and  for  yourselves,  the  laurel  of  the  past. 
Once  more  quit  yourselves  like  men.  The  white  plume  of  the 
ages,  the  flag  of  your  duty  summons  you  there.  The  martyred 
valor  of  the  South  fell,  as  it  was  charging  right  onward  there. 
There,  by  the  side  now  of  his  last  captain,  and  of  ours,  is  Jack 
son,  'standing  like  a  stone  wall'!" 

Finely  has  it  been  said  of  him  whose  followers  we  all  were, 
that  in  the  quiet  hall  of  the  professor,  he  renewed  the  war,  trans 
ferring  it  to  the  sphere  of  mind.  In  this  high  sphere,  fight  we 
ever,  as  in  his  eye.  To  walk  firmly  in  duty,  bravely  in  principle, 
honestly  in  conviction,  at  all  times,  is  the  first  business  of  a  man. 
We  will  have  enough  to  do  to  prove  that  the  plow-share  of  our 
peace  is  of  the  same  metal,  which  went  into  the  glorious  sword 
of  our  war.  With  us,  or  without  us,  history  will  say,  that  in  an 
age  whose  greatest  fiction  was  "without  a  hero,"  there  were  two 
Virginians,  worthy  to  be  named  by  the  side  of  Phocion  and 
Epaminondas.  It  is  in  our  power  to  cause  it  to  be  added,  that 
the  South  was  greater  in  defeat  than  her  enemies  in  victory;  that, 
indeed,  the  difference  between  the  North  and  South  was  not  so 
much  a  difference  between  victory  and  defeat,  as  it  was  a  differ 
ence  between  successs  and  glory.  It  may  be  well  not  to  be  too 
certain  which  scale  will  kick  the  beam,  with  Grant,  Sherman, 
Sheridan,  and  success  all  on  one  side;  but  defeat  and  Robert 
Lee,  death  and  Stonewall  Jackson,  all  on  the  other.  As  plainly 
enough  now  stares  us  in  the  face,  the  insolent  hope  of  sapping 
by  corruption  the  principles,  which  could  not  be  overcome  by 
force,  I  am  tempted  to  say  to  you,  as  our  great  captain  said  to  us 
all,  in  the  trenches  of  Hagerstown:  "Soldiers!  your  old  enemy 
is  before  you.  Win  from  him  honor,  worthy  your  right  causey 
worthy  your  comrades,  dead  on  so  many  illustrious  fields." 


26O  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

On  motion  of  General  D.  H.  Maury,  seconded  by  General  J. 
A.  Early,  the  Association  spread  on  its  record  a  feeling  and  ap 
propriate  tribute  to  the  memory  of  General  Nathan  Bedford 
Forrest,  who  had  died  on  the  2Qth  of  October.  Both  General 
Maury  and  General  Early  pronounced  fitting  eulogies  on  the 
great  "Wizard  of  the  saddle." 

On  motion  of  General  Early,  the  same  officers  were,  unani 
mously  and  by  acclimation,  elected  for  the  ensuing  year. 

THE  BANQUET. 

A  splendid  banquet  was  spread  to-night  at  the  Saint  Claire 
Hotel,  and  after  disposing  of  the  rich  viands  in  a  style  worthy  of 
the  reputation  of  "hungry  Rebels,"  the  President  announced  the 
regular  toasts,  which  were  responded  to  in  eloquent  and  telling 
speeches  by  Colonel  James  H.  Skinner,  Colonel  Hilary  P.  Jones, 
Doctor  J.  S.  D.  Cullen,  Judge  Farrar,  Colonel  Berkley,  General 
Early,  General  W.  S.  Walker,  General  Robert  Ransom,  General 
J.  R.  Cooke,  Colonel  H.  E.  Peyton,  and  others. 


EIGHTH  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


On  the  night  of  October  3<Dth,  1878,  a  brilliant  audience 
crowded  into  the  State  capitol  at  Richmond,  and  was  called  to 
order  by  the  President,  General  W.  H.  F.  Lee. 

The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  \Vm.  Jones. 

General  Lee  then  made  an  exceedingly  felicitous  address  of 
welcome,  and  appropriately  introduced  as  orator  of  the  evening, 
Colonel  William  Allan,  of  McDonough  School,  Maryland,  form 
erly  of  Jackson's  staff,  and  Chief  of  Ordnance  of  the  Second 
corps,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

Colonel  Allan  was  received  with  loud  applause,  and  was  fre 
quently  applauded  as  he  delivered  the  following  address  : 

ADDRKSS  OF  COLOXLL  WILLIAM  ALLAN. 

After  the  disastrous  termination  of  Braddock's  campaign  against 
Fort  Duquesne,  in  the  summer  of  1/56,  Colonel  George  Washing 
ton,  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  duty  of  protecting  the  Alleghany 
frontier  of  Virginia  from  the  French  and  Indians,  established  him 
self  at  Winchester,  in  the  lower  Shenandoah  Valley,  as  the  point 
from  which  he  could  best  protect  the  district  assigned  to  him. 
Here  he  subsequently  built  Fort  Loudoun,  and  made  it  the  base  of 
his  operations.  A  grass-ground  mound,  marking  the  site  of  one 
of  the  bastions  of  the  old  fort,  and  Loudoun  street,  the  name  of 
the  principal  thoroughfare  of  the  town,  remain  to  recall  an  im 
portant  chapter  in  Colonial  history. 

It  was  this  old  town  that  Major-General  T.  J.  Jackson  entered 
on  the  evening  of  November  4,  1861,  as  commander  of  the  Valley 
district,  and  his  headquarters  were  established  within  musket-shot 
of  Fort  Loudoun.  He  had  been  made  Major-General  on  October 
7  for  his  services  at  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  and  was  now  as 
signed  to  this  important  command  because  of  the  expectations 
formed  of  his  capacity,  and  because  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
country.  His  district  embraced  the  territory  bounded  north  by 
the  Potomac,  east  by  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  west  by  the  Allegha- 
nies.  Born  and  reared  in  Western  Virginia,  and  filled  with  a  pa 
triot's  devotion  to  the  land  of  his  birth,  he  had  manifested  a  strong 
desire  to  be  employed  in  the  operations  in  that  region,  and  had 
cherished  the  ambition  of  freeing  his  former  home  from  hostile 


262  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

domination.  The  Confederates,  during  the  summer,  had  in  that 
region  been  unsuccessful.  General  Robert  Garnett  had  been 
forced  to  retreat  by  General  McClellan,  and  had  then  met  defeat 
and  death  at  Corrick's  ford  on  Cheat  river,  July  I3th.  This  gave 
the  Federals  control  of  the  greater  part  of  Virginia  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  and  the  subsequent  efforts  of  Generals  Floyd  and 
Wise,  and  still  later  of  General  Lee,  availed  only  to  prevent 
further  encroachments  of  the  enemy — not  to  regain  the  lost  ter 
ritory. 

When,  therefore,  General  Jackson  assumed  command  of  the 
Valley  of  Virginia,  the  enemy  had  possession  of  all  the  State 
north  of  the  great  Kanawha  and  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and 
had  pushed  their  outposts  into  that  mountain  region  itself,  and 
in  some  cases  eastward  of  the  main  range.  Thus,  General  Kelly 
had  captured  Romney,  the  county  seat  of  Hampshire,  forty  miles 
west  of  Winchester,  and  now  occupied  it  with  a  force  of  five 
thousand  men.*  This  movement  gave  the  Federals  control  of 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  south  branch  of  the  Potomac.  Another, 
though  much  smaller  force,  occupied  Bath,  the  county  seat  of 
Morgan,  forty  miles  due  north  of  Winchester,  while  the  north 
bank  of  the  Potomac  was  everywhere  guarded  by  Union  troops. 
The  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad  was  open  and  available  for  the 
supply  of  the  Federal  troops  from  Baltimore  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  again  from  a  point  opposite  Hancock  westward.  The  section 
of  this  road  of  about  forty  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Han 
cock,  lying  for  the  most  part  some  distance  within  the  Virginia 
border,  had  been  interrupted  and  rendered  useless  by  the  Con 
federates,  but  this  gap  was  now  supplied  by  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  canal,  which  was  open  all  the  way  from  Cumberland,  Mary 
land,  to  Georgetown  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  plan  of  operations,  that  Jackson  had  conceived  for  regain 
ing  West  Virginia,  was  to  move  along  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
railroad  and  the  turnpikes  parrallel  to  it,  and  thus  enter  Western 
Virginia  at  the  northeastern  end.  In  this  way  he  could  turn  the 
left  flank  of  the  enemy's  forces,  place  himself  on  their  commu 
nications,  and  force  them  to  evacuate  or  fight  under  circumstances 
of  his  own  selection.  Having  seen  how  his  predecessors  had 
been  hampered  in  trying  to  operate  from  Staunton  westward,  by 
the  difficult  and  inaccessible  nature  of  the  country,  composed 
almost  entirely  of  mountains  destitute  of  supplies,  and  pene 
trated  by  nothing  but  indifferent  wagon  roads,  he  was  anxious  to 
try  a  mode  of  approach  which,  if  more  exposed  to  the  enemy, 
had  the  advantage  of  being  easier,  of  lying  through  a  much  more 

*  Rosecrans'  testimony  before  "  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,"  volume  III,  1865, 
page  14. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  263 

populous  and  cultivated  region,  of  affording  to  some  extent  the 
use  of  a  railroad  for  supplies,  and  which  would  soon  place  him 
in  the  midst  of  some  of  the  most  fertile  parts  of  West  Virginia. 
In  order  to  carry  out  this  scheme,  he  asked  for  his  old  brigade, 
which  had  been  left  at  Manassas,  and  that  all  the  forces  operating 
along  the  line  of  the  Alleghanies  southwest  of  Winchester,  and 
lately  commanded  by  General  Lee,  should  be  concentrated  under 
his  command.  This  would  have  given  him  fifteen  thousand  or 
sixteen  thousand  men — the  least  force  with  which  he  thought  it 
possible  to  undertake  so  bold  an  enterprise. 

His  wishes  were  complied  with  in  part.  His  own  brigade  was 
promptly  sent  to  him,  and  one  of  the  brigades  of  Loring's  troops 
(upon  the  transfer  of  General  Lee,  General  Loring  had  succeeded 
to  the  command  of  the  troops  west  of  Staunton)  reached  him 
early  in  December.  Subsequently  two  more  brigades,  under 
General  Loring  himself,  were  added;  but  all  these  troops  only 
increased  the  small  force  of  three  thousand  State  militia,  which  he 
had  assembled  in  the  district  itself,  to  about  eleven  thousand  men.* 
The  greater  part  of  General  Loring's  force  did  not  arrive  at  Win 
chester  until  Christmas,  thus  preventing  any  important  move 
ments  during  November  and  'December. 

But  meantime  Jackson  was  not  idle.  He  spent  the  time  in 
organizing,  drilling  and  equipping  the  militia  and  the  scattered 
cavalry  commands,  which  he  consolidated  into  a  regiment  under 
Colonel  Ashby;  and  in  sending  expeditions  against  the  Chesa 
peake  and  Ohio  canal,  by  breaking  which  he  annoyed  the  enemy 
and  interrupted  an  important  line  of  communication. f 

By  the  last  week  in  December  all  the  troops  that  the  War  De- 
Department  thought  it  judicious  to  spare  him  had  arrived,  and 
though  the  season  was  far  advanced,  he  determined  at  once  to 
assume  the  offensive.  The  winter  had  so  far  been  mild,  the  roads 
were  in  excellent  condition,  and  though  his  force  was  not  large 
enough  for  the  recovery  of  West  Virginia,  important  advantages 
seemed  within  reach. 

The  forces  and  positions  of  the  enemy  opposed  to  Jackson  at 
the  beginning  of  1862  were  as  follows:  General  Banks,  com 
manding  the  Fifth  corps  of  McClellan's  army,  with  headquarters 
at  Frederick,  Maryland,  had  sixteen  thousand  effective  men,J  the 

*Dahney's  Life  of  Jackson,  page  2.VT. 

t  Jackson  was  employed  from  December  IGth  to  December  21st  in  an  expedition  against 
Dam  No.  5  on  the  Potomac.  Here  Captain  (now  Governor)  Ilolliday,  of  the  Thirty-third  Vir 
ginia,  and  Captain  Robinson,  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Virginia,  volunteered,  with  their  com 
panies,  to  go  into  the  river  and  cut  away  the  cribs.  This  was  done  in  the  cold  water  under 
an  annoying  tire  from  the  enemy  on  the  Maryland  bank. 

i  General  Banks  says  that  he  hail  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  men  in  all.  or  "six 
teen  thousand  effective  men."  See  his  testimony  before  the  Committee  on  Conduct  of  the 
War,  1S63,  part  II,  page  414. 


264  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

greater  part  of  whom  were  in  winter  quarters  near  that  city, 
while  the  remainder  guarded  the  Potomac  from  Harper's  Ferry 
to  Williamsport.  General  Rosecrans,  still  holding  command  of 
the  Department  of  West  Virginia,  had  twenty-two  thousand  men 
scattered  over  that  region,*  but  was  concentrating  them  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad.  He  says  in  his  testimony  (Report 
on  Conduct  of  War,  1865,  volume  III):  "On  the  6th  of  Decem 
ber,  satisfied  that  the  condition  of  the  roads  over  the  Allegha- 
nies  into  Western  Virginia,  as  well  as  the  scarcity  of  subsistence 
and  horse-feed,  would  preclude  any  serious  operations  of  the 
enemy  against  us,  until  the  opening  of  the  spring,  I  began  quietly 
and  secretly  to  assemble  all  the  spare  troops  of  the  Department 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  under 
cover  of  about  five  thousand  men  I  had  posted  at  Romney,  with 
the  design  of  obtaining  General  McClellan's  permission  to.  take 
nearly  all  these  troops  and  suddenly  seize,  fortify  and  hold  Win 
chester,  whereby  I  should  at  once  more  effectually  cover  the 
northeastern  and  central  parts  of  Western  Virginia,  and  at  the 
same  time  threaten  the  left  of  the  enemy's  position  at  Manassas, 
compel  him  to  lengthen  his  line  of  defence  in  front  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  throw  it  further  south." 

This  plan  of  Rosecrans  was  anticipated  and  foiled  by  Jackson's 
movements.  On  the  first  of  January,  1862,  the  latter  left  Win 
chester  at  the  head  of  between  eight  thousand  and  nine  thousand 
men,f  and  moved  towards  Bath,  in  Morgan  county.  The  fine 
weather  of  the  preceding  month  changed  on  the  very  first  night 
of  the  expedition,  and  a  terrible  storm  of  sleet  and  snow  and 
cold  set  in,  which  for  the  next  three  weeks  subjected  the  troops 
to  the  severest  hardships,  and  finally  forced  their  commander  to 
suspend  his  forward  movement.  At  first  the  troops  marched 
cheerfully  on  in  spite  of  cold  and  sleet.  Bath  was  evacuated,  but 
General  Lander,  who  within  a  day  or  two  had  superseded  Rose 
crans,  hurried  reinforcements  to  Hancock,  in  time  to  prevent 
Jackson  from  crossing  the  Potomac. J  Jackson,  having  made  a 
demonstration  against  Hancock,  done  what  damage  was  possible 
to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  and  placed  himself  between 
Lander  at  Hancock  and  Kelly  at  Romney,  moved  toward  the 
latter  place  as  fast  as  the  icy  roads  would  permit.  While  Jack 
son  was  on  the  road,  a  part  of  Kelly's  force  made  a  reconnois- 

*  Rosecrans'  testimony  before  Committee  on  Conduct  of  the  War,  1863,  part  I,  page  202. 

t  O;i  January  Kith  Jackson  reported  111"  rn'iiv  fovcc  in  his  district  to  (; -neral  J.  E.  John 
ston  as  tvn  thousand  one  Imudr-d  and  eisnteen  i  f.iutr.v and  six  hundred  and  forty-eight 
cavalry,  lie  had  at  that  date  twenty-four  guns,  having  lost  two  at  Hanging  Kock,  January 
7th. 

t  One  of  Banks' brigades  was  sent  to  aid  Lander  at  Hancock.  See  Banks'  testimony,  above 
cited. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  265 

sancc  towards  Winchester,  and  at  Hanging  Rock,  twelve  miles  from 
Romney,  surprised  and  defeated  a  force  of  Confederate  militia 
of  some  seven  hundred  men,  taking  two  guns.  But  alarmed 
at  Jackson's  movements,  Kelly  did  not  attempt  to  follow  up  the 
advantage,  and  hastily  retired  from  Romney  on  January  loth. 
Jackson  entered  it  on  the  I4th,  and  though  the  weather  and  roads 
grew  worse,  held  to  his  intention  of  advancing  further.  He 
aimed  at  Cumberland.  Preparations  were  at  once  begun  for  a 
movement  on  New  Creek  (now  called  Keyser),  but  when  the 
orders  to  march  were  given,  the  murmuring  and  discontent 
among  his  troops,  especially  among  those  which  had  recently 
come  under  his  command,  reached  such  a  pitch  that  he  reluc 
tantly  abandoned  the  enterprise  and  determined  to  go  into  winter 
quarters.  Leaving  Loring  and  his  troops  at  Romney,  he  re 
turned  with  his  own  old  brigade  to  Winchester,  January  24th, 
and  disposed  his  cavalry  and  militia  commands  so  as  to  protect 
the  whole  border  of  the  district. 

This  expedition,  though  it  had  cleared  his  district  of  the  foe 
and  effectually  broken  up  all  plans  of  the  enemy  for  a  winter 
campaign  against  Winchester,  was  disappointing  to  Jackson,  as 
well  as  to  the  public.  Though"  believing  that  results  had  been 
obtained  which  outweighed  all  the  suffering  and  loss,  he  was  con 
scious  that  the  weather,  and  the  lack  of  cordial  support,  had  pre 
vented  the  accomplishment  of  far  more  important  ends.  But 
this  did  not  abate  his  self-reliance,  nor  diminish  his  clear-sight 
edness.  The  discontent  among  his  troops  left  at  Romney  re 
sulted  on  the  3 ist  of  January  in  an  order  from  the  Secretary  of 
War,  sent  without  consultation,  to  withdraw  Loring  from  that 
place.  Jackson  obeyed  the  order,  and  at  once  resigned,  on  the 
ground  that  such  interference  by  the  Department  at  Richmond, 
with  the  details  of  military  affairs  in  the  field,  could  only  lead  to 
disaster.  After  explanations,  and  upon  the  urgent  request  of 
Governor  Letchcr  and  General  J.  E.  Johnston,*  he  withdrew  the 
resignation.  Subsequently,  there  was  no  desire  on  anybody's 
part  to  interfere  with  him. 

For  the  next  month  Jackson  remained  quietly  at  Winchester. 
General  Loring  and  all  his  troops  that  were  not  Virginian  were 
ordered  elsewhere;  and  in  order  to  induce  re-enlistment, furloughs 

o 

were  freely  granted.     The  Confederate  force  was  in  this  way  re 
duced  to  about  four  or  five  thousand  men,  exclusive  of  militia. 

W7ith  the  ist  of  March  opened  the  great  campaign  of  1862  in 
Virginia,  in  which  Jackson  was  to  bear  so  prominent  a  part.  In 
other  sections  of  the  Confederacy  fortune  favored  the  Federal 

*  See  Johnston's  Narrative,  page  88;  Dabney's  Life,  page  2T8,  &c. 
IS 


266  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

cause,  and  the  Union  armies  were  on  the  full  tide  of  success.  On 
the  8th  of  February  Roanoke  Island  fell,  on  the  i6th  Fort  Don- 
elson,  on  the  26th  Nashville,  and  on  the  2/th  the  evacuation  of 
Columbus,  Kentucky,  was  begun. 

These  successes  made  the  Federal  Administration  impatient 
to  push  forward  operations  in  Virginia.  At  the  urgent  repre 
sentation  of  General  McClellan,  President  Lincoln  had  yielded 
his  favorite  plan  of  campaign — an  advance  against  the  Confede 
rate  lines  at  Manassas — and  had  reluctantly  consented  to  the 
transfer  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
its  advance  thence  on  Richmond.  Before  he  would  allow  Mc 
Clellan,  however,  to  begin  the  transfer,  the  Potomac  river  below 
Washington  must  be  cleared  of  Confederate  batteries,  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  railroad  must  be  recovered  and  protected,  and 
all  the  approaches  to  Washington  must  be  made  secure.* 

To  fulfill  a  part  of  these  conditions,  Banks'  and  Lander's  com 
mands  were  ordered  forward,  and  on  February  24th  General 
Banks  occupied  Harper's  Ferry.  Soon  after,  McClellan  began 
the  movements  on  his  other  wing,  that  were  preparatory  to  an 
attack  on  the  Confederate  batteries  along  the  lower  Potomac. 
These  indications  of  activity  announced  to  General  Johnston  that 
the  time  had  come  for  carrying  out  his  plan,  already  determined 
upon,  of  retreating  behind  the  Rappahannock.  On  the  /th  of 
March  Johnston  began  the  withdrawal  of  his  army,  and  by  the 
nth  all  the  infantry  and  artillery  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  had 
reached  the  new  position. 

Jackson  meanwhile  remained  at  Winchester,  watching  closely 
the  advance  of  Banks,  and  doing  what  was  possible  to  impede  it. 
General  Johnston  thus  describes  the  duty  assigned  to  him:  "Af 
ter  it  had  become  evident  that  the  Valley  was  to  be  invaded  by 
an  army  too  strong  to  be  encountered  by  Jackson's  division,  that 
officer  was  instructed  to  endeavor  to  employ  the  invaders  in  the 
Valley,  but  without  exposing  himself  to  the  danger  of  defeat,  by 
keeping  so  near  the  enemy  as  to  keep  him  from  making  any  con 
siderable  detachment  to  reinforce  McClellan,  but  not  so  near 
that  he  might  be  compelled  to  fight."f 

At  this  time  Jackson's  entire  force  did  not  amount  to  forty-six 
hundred  men,  exclusive  of  the  remnants  of  the  militia  brigades, 
which  were  not  employed  any  more  in  actual  service.  It  con 
sisted  of  the  five  regiments  of  his  old  brigade,  now  under  Gar- 
nett,  of  three  regiments  and  one  battalion  under  Burks,  and  of 
two  regiments  under  Fulkerson.  He  had  also  five  batteries  and 
Ashby's  regiment  of  cavalry.  General  Banks  had  his  own  divi- 

*See  McClellan 'a  report.  t  Johnston's  Narrative,  page  106. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN".  267 

sion,  under  Williams,  and  Shields'  (late  Lander's)*  division,  now 
incorporated  in  his  corps.  Two  brigades  of  Sedgwick's  were 
also  with  himt  when  he  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  the  other  sub 
sequently  joined  him.  On  the  ist  of  April  the  strength  of 
Banks'  corps,  embracing  Shields',  is  given  by  General  McClellan 
as  twenty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  including 
thirty-six  hundred  and  fifty-two  cavalry,  and  excluding  twenty- 
one  hundred  railroad  guards. J  Sedgwick's  brigades  continued 
with  him  in  his  advance  on  Winchester,  and  increased  his  force 
to  over  thirty  thousand.^ 

Jackson  sent  his  stores,  baggage  and  sick  to  the  rear,  but  con 
tinued  to  hold  his  position  at  Winchester  to  the  last  moment. 

Banks  occupied  Charlestown  on  26th  February,  but  only 
reached  Stephenson's,  four  miles  north  of  Winchester,  on  March 
/th.  Mere  Jackson  drew  up  his  little  force  in  line  of  battle  to 
meet  him,  but  the  Federals  withdrew  without  attacking.  The 
activity  of  Ashby,  and  the  boldness  with  which  Jackson  main 
tained  his  position,  impressed  his  adversary  with  greatly  exag 
gerated  notions  of  his  strength.  Banks  advanced  in  a  cautious 
and  war}'  manner,  refusing  to  attack,  but  pushing  forward  his  left 
wing,  so  as  to  threaten  Jackson's  Hank  and  rear.  By  the  iith 
of  March  this  movement  had  gone  so  far  that  it  was  no  longer 
safe  for  the  Confederates  to  hold  Winchester.  Jackson  remained 
under  arms  all  day}  hoping  for  an  attack  in  front,  but  none  was 
made,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  he  ordered  trains  and  troops  into 
camp,  near  the  south  end  of  the  town.  By  some  mistake  the 
trains  went  on  six  miles  further  and  the  troops  had  to  follow. 
Jackson,  not  aware  of  this,  called  a  council  of  his  chief  officers — 
the  first  and  last  time,  it  is  believed,  that  he  ever  summoned  a 
council  of  war — to  meet  after  dark  in  Winchester,  and  proposed 
to  them  a  night  attack  upon  Banks.  His  proposition  was  not 
approved,  and  he  learned  then  for  the  first  time  that  the  troops 
were  already  six  miles  from  Winchester  and  ten  from  the  enemy. 
The  plan  was  now  evidently  impracticable,  and  he  withdrew  from 
the  town,  which  was  occupied  by  the  Federals  on  the  next  day, 

*  General  Lander  died  at  his  camp  at  Pawpaw,  March  2d,  and  General  Shields  succeeded 
to  his  command. 

t  McClellau's  report. 

'tMcClellan's  report.— Rebellion  Record,  companion  volume  I,  page  546. 

§McClellan's  morning  report,  March  2d,  1S62,  gives  Banks' strength  as  follows — officers  and 
men  ''present  for  duty  ": 

Banks' division 15,398 

Lander's  (Shields')  division 11,869 

Sedgwick's  division 11/217 

3S,4S4 

This,  no  doubt,  includes  railroad  guards  and  other  detachments  in  the  rear;  but  his  movable 
column  could  hardly  have  been  less  than  thirty  thousand  men — and  was  probably  more — up 
to  the  15th  of  March,  when  Sedgwick's  division  was  ordered  to  the  rear. 


268  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

March  I2th.  The  Confederates  continued  to  retreat  slowly  to 
Woodstock  and  Mount  Jackson,  forty  miles  in  rear  of  Winches 
ter,  and  Shields'  division  was  thrown  forward  in  pursuit  to  Stras 
burg  on  the  I7th. 

The  retirement  of  Jackson,  and  the  unopposed  occupation  of  the 
lower  Valley  by  Banks,  relieved  General  McClellan  of  all  fears  in 
that  direction,  and  induced  him,  in  pursuance  of  President  Lin 
coln's  requirement  that  Manassas  Junction  and  the  approaches 
to  Washington  from  that  direction  be  securely  held,  to  send  the 
following  instructions  to  Banks  on  March  i6th: 

"Sir — You  will  post  your  command  in  the  vicinity  of  Manas 
sas,  entrench  yourself  strongly,  and  throw  cavalry  pickets  out  to 
the  front. 

"Your  first  care  will  be  the  rebuilding  of  the  railway  from 
Washington  to  Manassas,  and  to  Strasburg,  in  order  to  open 
your  communications  to  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  As 
soon  as  the  Manassas  Gap  railway  is  in  running  order,  entrench 
a  brigade  of  infantry,  say  four  regiments,  with  two  batteries,  at 
or  near  the  point  where  the  railway  crosses  the  Shenandoah. 
Something  like  two  regiments  of  cavalry  should  be  left  in  that 
vicinity  to  occupy  Winchester,  and  thoroughly  scour  the  country 

south  of  the  railway  and  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley 

Occupy  by  grand  guards  Warrenton  Junction  and  Warrenton 
itself,  and  some  .  .  more  advanced  point  on  the  Orange  and 
Alexandria  railroad."* 

In  compliance  with  these  instructions,  Shields'  division  was 
recalled  from  Strasburg,  and  Williams'  division  began  its  move 
ment  toward  Manassas  on  the  2Oth  of  March. 

On  the  evening  of  the  2ist  Ashby  reported  that  the  enemy 
had  evacuated  Strasburg.  Jackson,  divining  that  this  meant  a 
withdrawal  toward  Washington,  at  once  ordered  pursuit  with  all 
Iris  available  force.  The  whole  of  his  little  army  reached  Stras 
burg  on  the  afternoon  of  the  22d — the  greater  part  after  a  march 
of  twenty-two  miles.  Meantime  Ashby  was  following  close  be 
hind  the  retreating  enemy,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  22d, 
as  Jackson  was  entering  Strasburg,  Ashby  was  attacking  the 
Federal  pickets  one  mile  south  of  Winchester.  After  the  skir 
mish,  Ashby  camped  for  the  night  at  Kernstown,  three  miles 
south  of  Winchester.  General  Shields,  who  commanded  the 
troops  Ashby  had  attacked,  and  who  wa"s  himself  wounded  in 
the  skirmish,  had  displayed  but  a  small  part  of  his  force,  and  this 

*  McClellan's  report. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  269 

fact,  combined  with  information  gotten  within  the  Federal  lines, 
misled  the  Confederates.  The  last  of  Williams'  division  (Banks' 
old  division)  of  Banks'  corps  had  left  on  the  morning  of  the  22d 
for  Manassas,  but  Shields'  division,  of  three  brigades,  still  re 
mained.  The  reports  brought  out  led  Ashby  to  believe  that  all 
but  one  brigade  had  gone,  and  that  it  expected  to  leave  for 
Harper's  Ferry  the  next  day.*  This  information,  transmitted  to 
Jackson,  caused  the  latter  to  push  on  with  .  all  haste  the  next 
morning.  At  daylight*  he  sent  three  companies  of  infantry  to 
reinforce  Ashby  and  followed  with  his  whole  force.  He  reached 
Kernstown  at  2  P.  M.,  after  a  march  of  fourteen  miles. f 

General  Shields  had  made  his  dispositions  to  meet  attack,  by 
advancing  Kimball's  brigade  of  four  regiments  and  Damn's  artil 
lery  to  the  vicinity  of  Kernstown.  Sullivan's  brigade  of  four 
regiments  was  posted  in  rear  of  Kimball,  and  Tyler's  brigade  of 
five  regiments,  with  Broadhead's  cavalry,  was  held  in  reserve. 
Ashby  kept  up  an  active  skirmish  with  the  advance  of  Shields' 
force  during  the  forenoon. 

o 

But  though  thus  making  ready,  the  Federal  Generals  did  not 
expect  an  attack  in  earnest.  Shields  says  he  had  the  country  in 
front  and  flank  carefully  reconnoitred  during  the  forenoon  of  the 
23d  of  March,  and  the  officer  in  charge  reported  "no  indications 
of  any  hostile  force  except  that  of  Ashby."  Shields  continues: 
"I  communicated  this  information  to  Major-General  Banks,  who 
was  then  with  me,  and  after  consulting  together,  we  both  con 
cluded  that  Jackson  could  not  be  tempted  to  hazard  himself  so- 
far  away  from  his  main  support.  Having  both  come  to  this  con 
clusion,  General  Banks  took  his  departure  for  Washington,  being" 
already  under  orders  to  that  effect.  The  officers  of  his  staff, 
however,  remained  behind,  intending  to  leave  for  Centreville  in 
the  afternoon."^ 

When  Jackson  reached  Kernstown  his  troops  were  very  weary. 
Three-fourths  of  them  had  marched  thirty-six  miles  since  the 
preceding  morning.  He  therefore  gave  directions  for  bivouack 
ing,  and  says  in  his  report:  "Though  it  was  very  desirable  to 
prevent  the  enemy  from  leaving  the  Valley,  yet  I  deemed  it  best 
not  to  attack  until  morning.  But  subsequently  ascertaining.that 
the  Federals  had  a  position  from  which  our  forces  could- be  seen, 
I  concluded  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  postpone  the  attack 
until  the  next  day,  as  reinforcements  might  be  brought  up  during 
the  night." 

Jackson  therefore  led  his  men  to  the  attack.     His  plan  was  to 

*  Shields' report.— Rebellion  Record,  volume  IV;  Ashby's  reports, 
t  Jackson's  report;  Confederate  official  reports. 
i  Shields'  report. 


27O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

gain  the  ridge  upon  which  the  Federal  right  flank  rested,  turn 
that  flank,  and  get  command  of  the  road  from  Kernstovvn  to 
Winchester  in  the  enemy's  rear.  He  gained  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
but  Shields  was  able  to  hold  him  in  check  until  Tyler's  brigade 
and  other  troops  could  be  hurried  to  that  flank,  when  Jackson  in 
turn  became  the  attacked  party.  For  three  hours  of  this  Sun 
day  afternoon  the  sanguinary  and  stubborn  contest  continued. 
The  left  half  of  the  Confederate  line  was  perpendicular  to  the  ridge ; 
the  right  half,  which  was  mainly  composed  of  artillery,  ran  along 
the  ridge  to  the  rear,  and  was  thus  at  right  angles  to  the  other 
part.  The  brunt  of  the  Federal  attack  was  borne  by  the  centre, 
near  the  angle  presented  by  that  part  of  the  line.  Fulkerson's 
brigade,  holding  the  extreme  Confederate  left,  firmly  maintained 
its  position,  but  the  centre  was  thinned  and  worn  out  by  the  per 
sistent  Federal  attacks,  until  General  Garnett,  whose  brigade  was 
there,  deeming  it  impossible  to  hold  his  position  longer,  ordered 
a  retreat.  This  of  course  caused  a  retreat  of  the  whole,  which 
was  effected  with  a  loss  of  two  disabled  guns,  and  from  two  hun 
dred  to  three  hundred  prisoners. 

Jackson's  whole  force  at  this  time  consisted  of  three  thousand 
and  eighty-seven  infantry,  of  which  two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  forty-two  were  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Kernstown;  of 
twenty-seven  guns,  of  which  eighteen  were  engaged,  and  of  two 
hundred  and  ninety  cavalry.  General  Shields  states  his  force  at 
seven  thousand  of  all  arms.  The  total  Confederate  loss  was 
nearly  seven  hundred — the  Federal  is  put  by  General  Shields  at 
less  than  six  hundred.* 

Weary  and  dispirited  was  the  little  army  which  had  marched 
fourteen  miles  in  the  morning  to  attack  a  force  more  than  double 
its  own,  and  which  had  for  three  hours  wrestled  for  victory  in  so 
vigorous  a  fashion  as  to  astonish  and  deceive  the  enemy.  Baffled 
and  overpowered,  it  slowly  retraced  its  path  for  six  miles  more, 
and  sank  to  rest.  In  the  fence  corners,  under  the  trees,  and 
around  the  wagons,  the  soldiers  threw  themselve  down,  many  too 
tired  to  eat,  and  forgot  in  profound  slumbers  the  toils,  dangers 
and  disappointments  of  the  day.  Jackson  shared  the  open-air 
bivouac  with  his  men,  and  found  the  rest  that  nature  demanded 
on  some-  fence  rails  in  a  corner  of  the  road.  Next  morning  he 
crossed  to  the  south  side  of  Cedar  creek,  and  gradually  retired 
before  the  advancing  enemy  once  more  to  Mount  Jackson. 

The  bold  attack  of  Jackson  at  Kernstown,  though  unsuccessful, 
led  to  many  important  results.  Its  first  effect  was  the  recall  of 
the  Federal  troops  then  marching  from  the  Valley  towards  Ma- 

*  Jacksou's  and  Shields'  reports. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  2/1 

nassas.  General  Shields  says:  ''Though  the  battle  had  been 
won,  still  I  could  not  have  believed  that  Jackson  would  have 
hazarded  a  decisive  engagement  so  far  from  the  main  body  with 
out  expecting  reinforcements;  so  to  be  prepared  for  such  a  con 
tingency,  I  set  to  work  during  the  night  (after  the  battle)  to  bring 
together  all  the  troops  within  my  reach.  I  sent  an  express  after 
Williams'  division,  requesting  the  rear  brigade,  about  twenty 
miles  distant,  to  march  all  night  and  join  me  in  the  morning.  I 
swept  the  posts  and  routes  in  my  rear  of  almost  all  their  guards, 
hurrying  them  forward  by  forced  marches  to  be  with  me  by  day 
light.  .  .  .  General  Banks,  hearing  of  our  engagement  on  his 
way  to  Washington,  halted  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  with  remark 
able  prompitude  and  sagacity,  ordered  back  Williams'  whole 
division,  so  that  my  express  found  the  rear  brigade  already  en 
route  to  join  us.  The  General  himself  returned  forthwith,  and 
after  making  me  a  hasty  visit,  assumed  command  of  the  forces  in 
pursuit  of  the  enemy.  This  pursuit  was  kept  up  .  .  .  until 
they  reached  Woodstock." 

Thus  the  design  of  McClellan  to  post  Banks'  corps  at  Centre- 
ville  (see  letter  of  March  i6th)  became  impracticable,  and  that 
body  of  over  twenty  thousand  troops  was  thought  necessary  to 
guard  against  the  further  movements  of  Jackson's  three  thou 
sand  and  the  imaginary  reinforcements  with  which  they  supplied 
him.  This  battle,  too,  no  doubt,  decided  the  question  of  the  de 
tachment  of  Blenker's  division  of  ten  thousand  men  from  Mc 
Clellan,  and  its  transfer  to  Fremont,  recently  placed  in  command 
of  the  Mountain  Department,  which  embraced  West  Virginia. 
While  en  route  from  Alexandria  to  join  Fremont,  Blenker's  divi 
sion  was  to  report  to  Banks,  and  remain  with  him  as  long  as  he 
thought  any  attack  from  Jackson  impending.*  A  few  days  later, 
the  sensitiveness  of  the  Federal  Government  to  the  danger  of 
Washington,  excited  anew  by  Jackson's  movements,  led  to  the 
detachment  of  McDowell's  corps. 

McClellan  had  left  over  seventy  thousand  menf  for  the  defence 
of  Washington  and  its  approaches,  and  yet,  after  Kernstown,  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  felt  so  insecure  that  on  April  3d  he  countermanded 
the  order  for  the  embarkation  of  McDowell's  corps,  and  detained 
it  to  replace  Banks  in  front  of  Washington,  and  so  deprived  Mc 
Clellan  of  the  finest  body  of  troops  in  his  army. 

Thus  Jackson's  bold  dash  had  effected  the  object  of  General 
Johnston  in  leaving  him  in  the  Valley,  in  a  way  far  more  thorough 
than  either  of  them  could  have  expected. 

The  next  month  was  to  Jackson  one  of  comparative  inaction. 

*  McClellan's  report.  t  McClellan's  report. 


272  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Having  slowly  retreated  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Shenandoah 
near  Mount  Jackson,  he  spent  the  next  few  weeks  in  resting  and 
recruiting  his  forces.  The  militia  of  the  adjoining  counties  had 
already  been  called  to  the  field,  but  this  resource  was  superseded 
on  the  1 6th  of  April  by  the  conscription  act.  The  time  for  re 
organizing  the  regiments  was  near  at  hand.  New  officers  were 
to  be  elected.  The  ranks  were  filling  up  under  the  impetus  given 
to  volunteering  by  the  conscription  bill.  The  weather  during  the 
first  half  of  April  was  very  raw  and  cold,  and  during  the  whole 
month  was  exceedingly  rainy.  All  these  causes  rendered  quiet 
very  acceptable  to  the  Confederates. 

Nor  was  the  enemy  in  haste  to  disturb  them.  Banks  was  on 
April  4th  placed  in  independent  command  of  the  Department  of 
the  Shenandoah,  and  McDowell  of  the  country  between  the  Blue 
Ridge  and  the  Rappahannock,  while  Fremont  was  in  command 
from  the  Alleghanies  westward  to  the  Ohio.  These  were  all 
made  independent  of  McClellan  and  of  each  other.  General 
Banks  followed  Jackson  but  slowly.  He  reached  Woodstock  on 
April  1st,  and  having  pushed  back  Ashby's  cavalry  to  Edinburg, 
five  miles  beyond,  he  attempted  no  further  serious  advance  until 
the  I /th.  He  then  moved  forward  in  force,  and  Jackson  retired 
to  Harrisonburg,  where  he  turned  at  right  angles  to  the  left,  and 
crossing  the  main  fork  of  the  Shenandoah  at  Conrad's  store,  took 
up  his  position  at  the  western  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains, 
in  Swift  Run  gap.  This  camp  the  Confederates  reached  on  the 
2Oth  of  April,  and  here  they  remained  through  ten  days  more  of 
rain  and  mud. 

Meantime,  the  advance  of  McClellan  up  the  Peninsula  had  be 
gun  in  earnest.  General  J.  E.  Johnston  had  transferred  the  mass 
of  his  army  to  the  front  of  Richmond,  and  had  taken  command 
there  in  person.  Ewell's  division  alone  remained  on  the  Rappa 
hannock,  to  watch  the  enemy  there,  and  to  aid  Jackson  in  case 
of  need.  This  division  was  now  near  Gordonsville,  and  a  good 
road  from  that  point  through  Swift  Run  gap  placed  it  within 
easy  reach  of  Jackson. 

The  latter,  conscious  of  his  inability  with  five  or  six  thousand 
men  (his  force  had  nearly  doubled  since  Kernstown  by  the  re 
turn  of  furloughed  men  and  by  new  enlistments)  to  resist  in  the 
open  country  the  advance  of  Banks,  had  availed  himself  of  the 
nature  of  the  country  to  take  a  position  where  he  could  be 
attacked  only  at  great  disadvantage,  and  yet  might  threaten  the 
flank  and  rear  of  the  advancing  column,  if  it  attempted  to  pass 
him.  The  main  Shenandoah  river  covered  his  front — a  stream 
not  easily  fordable  at  any  time,  and  now  swollen  by  the  spring 
rains.  The  spurs  of  the  mountains,  as  they  run  out  towards 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  2/3 

this  river  afford  almost  impregnable  positions  for  defence;  his 
flank  could  only  be  turned  by  toilsome  and  exposed  marches, 
while  good  roads  led  from  his  rear  to  General  Ewell.  Thus  se 
cure  in  his  position,  Jackson  at  the  same  time  more  effectually 
prevented  the  further  advance  of  the  Federal  column  than  if  he 
had  remained  in  its  front;  for  he  held  the  bridge  over  the  Shen- 
andoah,  and  was  but  a  day's  march  from  Harrisonburg,  and 
should  Banks  threaten  to  move  forward  towards  Staunton,  he 
was  ready  to  hurl  the  Confederate  forces  against  his  enemy's 
flank  and  rear.  General  Banks  at  Harrisonburg  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  hostile  country,  and  already  one  hundred  miles  from  the 
Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry,  with  which  a  long  line  of  wagon 
communication  had  to  be  maintained.  To  push  on  to  Staunton, 
with  Jackson  on  his  flank  and  rear,  was  virtually  to  sacrifice  his 
present  line  of  communication,  with  no  practicable  substitute  in 
view;  to  attack  the  Confederates  on  the  slopes  of  the  mountains, 
with  even  a  greatly  superior  force,  was  to  risk  defeat. 

On  the  28th  of  April  Jackson  applied  to  General  Lee,  then 
acting  as  Commander-in-Chief  under  President  Davis,  for  a  re 
inforcement  of  five  thousand  men,  which  addition  to  his  force  he 
deemed  necessary  to  justify  him  in  marching  out  and  attacking 
Banks. 

Next  clay  he  was  informed  that  no  troops  could  be  spared  to 
him  beyond  the  commands  of  Kwell  and  of  Edward  Johnson,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  seven  miles  west  of  Staunton,  at  \Yest  View, 
with  a  brigade. 

Jackson  at  once  decided  upon  his  plan  of  campaign,*  and  the 
very  next  day  began  to  put  it  in  execution.  This  campaign,  so 
successful  and  brilliant  in  its  results,  and  now  so  renowned,  shows 
in  its  conception  the  strong  points  of  Jackson's  military  genius — 
his  clear,  vigorous  grasp  of  the  situation — his  decision,  his  energy, 
his  grand  audacity.  It  recalls  the  Italian  campaign  of  1796, 
when  Napoleon  astonished,  baffled,  defeated  the  armies  of  Beau- 
lieu,  Wurmser  and  Alvinzy  in  succession.  Jackson  was  now 
with  about  six  thousand  men  at  the  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
some  thirty  miles  northeast  of  Staunton.  Ewell  with  eight  thou 
sand  men  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Stanardsville,  twenty-five  miles  in 
his  rear,  and  east  of  the  mountains.  Edward  Johnson  was  seven 
miles  west  of  Staunton,  with  thirty-five  hundred  men.  Such  the 
Confederate  position.  On  the  other  hand,  Banks,  with  the  main 
body  of  his  force,  of  about  nineteen  thousand  men,  occupied 
Harrisonburg,  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  in  Jackson's  front.  Schenck 
and  Milroy,  commanding  Fremont's  advance  of  six  thousand 

*  Jackson  submitted  three  plans  of  campaign,  and  was  directed  by  General  Lee  to  use  his 
discretion.— See  General  Lee's  letter  of  May  1st  to  Jackson,  Confederate  archives. 


2/4  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

men,  were  in  front  of  Edward  Johnson,  their  pickets  already  east 
of  the  Shenandoah  mountain  and  on  the  Harrisonburg  and  Warm 
Springs  turnpike.  Fremont  was  preparing  to  join  them  from 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad  with  near  ten  thousand  men, 
making  the  total  of  Fremont's  movable  column  some  fifteen 
thousand.*  McDowell,  with  thirty  thousand  men,  had  drawn 
away  from  the  upper  Rappahannock,  and  was  concentrating  at 
Fredericksburg.  This  movement  of  McDowell  had  released 
Ewell,  and  left  him  free  to  aid  Jackson,  who,  with  a  force  of  about 
sixteen  thousand  men  (including  Ewell  and  Edward  Johnson), 
had  on  his  hands  the  thirty-four  thousand  under  Banks  and  Fre 
mont.  The  Warm  Springs  turnpike  afforded  Banks  a  ready 
mode  of  uniting  with  Milroy  and  Schenck,  in  which  case  Staun- 
ton  would  be  an  easy  capture.  Fremont  was  already  preparing 
to  move  in  that  direction.  Jackson  determined  to  anticipate  such 
a  movement  if  possible,  by  uniting  his  own  force  to  that  of  John 
son,  and  falling  upon  Milroy  while  Ewell  kept  Banks  in  check. 
Then  he  would  join  Ewell,  and  with  all  his  strength  attack 
Banks. 

To  accomplish  this,  Ewell  was  ordered  to  cross  the  mountain 
and  occupy  the  position  Jackson  had  held  for  ten  days  at  Swift 
Run  gap,  thus  keeping  up  the  menace  of  Banks'  flank.  As 
Ewell  approached,  Jackson  left  camp  on  the  3Oth  of  April,  and 
marched  up  the  east  bank  of  the  Shenandoah  to  Port  Republic. 
No  participant  in  that  march  can  ever  forget  the  incessant  rain, 
the  fearful  mud,  the  frequent  quicksands,  which  made  progress 
so  slow  and  toilsome.  More  than  two  days  were  consumed  in 
going  fifteen  miles.  Meantime  Ashby  was  demonstrating  against 
the  enemy,  and  keeping  Jackson's  line  close  to  prevent  informa 
tion  from  getting  through.  At  Port  Republic  the  army  turned 
short  to  the  left,  and  leaving  the  Shenandoah  Valley  altogether, 
crossed  Brown's  gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  marched  to  Mechum's 
River  station  on  the  Virginia  Central  railroad.  Thence  by  road 
and  rail  it  was  rapidly  moved  to  Staunton,  and  by  the  evening  of 
May  5th  it  had  all  reached  that  point.  The  movement  by  this 
devious  route  mystified  friends  as  welt  as  foes.  One  day  is  given 
to  rest,  and  on  the  next  Jackson  hurries  forward,  unites  Johnson's 
troops  with  his  own,  drives  in  the  Federal  pickets  and  foraging 
parties,  and  camps  twenty-five  miles  west  of  Staunton.  On  the 
morrow  (May  8th)  he  pushes  on  to  McDowell,  seizes  Sitlington's 
hill,  which  commands  the  town  and  the  enemy's  camp,  and  makes 
his  dispositions  to  seize  the  road  in  rear  of  the  enemy  during  the 
night.  But  Milroy  and  Schenck  have  united,  and  seeing  their 

*  See  Fremont's  report. 


ADDRESS    QF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  2/5 

position  untenable,  make  a  fierce  attack  in  the  afternoon  to  retake 
the  hill  or  cover  their  retreat.  For  three  or  four  hours  a  bloody 
struggle  takes  place  on  the  brow  of  Sitlington's  hill.  The  Fede 
rals,  though  inflicting  severe  loss,  are  repulsed  at  every  point,  and 
at  nightfall  quietly  withdraw.*  They  light  their  camp  fires,  and 
in  the  darkness  evacuate  the  town.  They  retreat  twenty-four 
miles  to  Franklin,  in  Pendleton  county,  where  they  meet  Fre 
mont  advancing  with  the  main  body  of  his  forces.  Jackson  fol 
lows  to  this  point;  has  found  it  impossible  to  attack  the  retreat 
ing  foe  to  advantage,  and  now  deems  it  inadvisable  to  attempt 
anything  further  in  this  difficult  country,  with  his  nine  thousand 
men  against  Fremont's  fourteen  thousand  or  fifteen  thousand. 
Screening  completely  his  movements  from  Fremont  with  cavalry, 
he  turns  back  (May  I3th),  marches  rapidly  to  within  seventeen 
miles  of  Staunton,  then  turns  towards  Harrisonburg,  and  dis 
patches  General  Kwell  that  he  is  on  his  way  to  attack  Hanks  with 
their  united  forces. 

Meantime,  important  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  disposi 
tion  of  the  Federal  troops  in  the  Valley.  McClellan  is  calling 
for  more  troops,  and  complaining  that  McDowell  is  withheld. 
The  latter,  having  gathered  Abercrombie's  and  other  scattered 
commands  from  the  country  in  front  of  Washington  into  a  new 
division  to  replace  one  sent  to  McClellan,  now  lies  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  impatient  to  take  part  in  the  movement  on  Richmond. 
Banks,  hearing  of  Fwell's  arrival  in  the  Valley,  fears  an  attack 
from  him  and  Jackson  combined,  and  retires  from  Harrisonburg 
to  New  Market. 

Jackson's  inaction  for  some  weeks,  and  now  his  movement  to 
West  Virginia,  reassures  the  Federal  Administration,  and  Shields, 
with  more  than  half  of  Banks'  force,  is  detached  at  New  Market, 
and  ordered  to  Fredericksburg  to  swell  McDowell's  corps  to 
over  forty  thousand  men.f  Banks  is  left  with  only  some  seven 
thousand  or  eight  thousand,  and  falls  back  to  Strasburg,  which 
he  fortifies. J  He  assumes  a  defensive  attitude,  to  hold  the  lower 
Valley,  and  to  cover  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad. 

These  movements  of  the  enemy,  which  had  taken  place  while 
Jackson  was  after  Milroy,  had  nearly  disarranged  Jackson's  plans. 
Upon  the  march  of  Shields  towards  Fredericksburg,  the  Con 
federate  authorities  thought  it  time  to  recall  Fwell  to  meet  the 

*Schenck's  report.— Rebellion  Record,  volume  V.  He  puts  his  total  loss  at  two  hundred 
and  fifty-six.  Jackson's  loss  was  four  hundred  and  sixty-one;  see  his  report. 

t  McDowell  says  his  corps  at  this  time  "consisted  of  the  divisions  of  McCall,  King  and 
Ord.  .  .  .  There  were  about  thirty  thousand  men  altogether.  Then  (General  Shields 
came  with  about  eleven  thousand  men,  making  my  force  about  forty-one  thousand  men." 
He  had  also  one  hundred  pieces  of  artillery.— See  McDowell's  testimony" before  the  Committee 
on  Conduct  of  the  War,  part  I,  1S63,  page  267. 

+  Shields  left  New.Market  May  12th. 


2/6  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

new  danger  thus  threatened,  and  conditional  orders  reached 
Ewell  while  Jackson  was  yet  short  of  Harrisonburg.  After  con 
ference  with  Ewell  (May  i8th),  Jackson  took  the  responsibility 
of  detaining  him  until  the  condition  of  affairs  could  be  repre 
sented  to  General  Johnston,  and  meantime  they  united  in  a  vigo 
rous  pursuit  of  Banks.* 

Ashby  has  followed  close  on  Banks'  heels,  and  now  occupies 
his  outposts  with  constant  skirmishing,  while  he  completely 
screens  Jackson.  The  latter,  having  marched  rapidly  to  New 
Market,  as  if  about  to  follow  the  foe  to  Strasburg  to  attack  him 
there,  suddenly  changes  his  route,  crosses  the  Massanuttin  moun 
tain  to  Luray,  where  Ewell  joins  him,  and  pours  down  the  nar 
row  Page  Valley  by  forced  marches  towards  Front  Royal.  This 
place  is  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  (by  Jackson's  route) 
from  Franklin,  and  the  Confederates  reached  it  on  May  23d — ten 
days  after  leaving  Franklin.  Front  Royal  is  held  by  about  one 
thousand  men  under  Colonel  Kenly,  of  the  First  Maryland  Fede 
ral  regiment,  who  has  in  charge  the  large  stores  there  gathered, 
and  the  important  railroad  bridges  on  the  Shenandoah.  This 
force  also  covers  the  flank  and  rear  of  Banks'  position  at  Stras 
burg.  Kenly  is  taken  by  surprise,  makes  what  resistance  he  can, 
is  forced  across  the  bridges  he  vainly  attempts  to  destroy,  and 
flies  towards  Winchester.  Jackson,  too  impatient  to  wait  for  his 
tired  infantry,  places  himself  at  the  head  of  a  few  companies  of 
cavalry,  and  pushes  after  the  foe.  He  overtakes,  attacks  and  dis 
perses  Kenly's  force,  and  in  a  few  moments  four-fifths  of  it  are 
killed,  wounded  or  prisoners. f  Exhausted  nature  can  do  no 
more.  Weary  and  footsore,  the  army  lies  down  to  rest. 

General  Banks,  amazed  at  this  irruption  by  which  his  flank  is. 
turned  and  his  communications  threatened,  begins  next  day  a 
precipitate  retreat  from  Strasburg  to  Winchester.  Jackson  antici 
pates  this,  and  presses  on  the  next  morning  to  Middletown — a 
village  between  Strasburg  and  Winchester — to  find  the  road  still 
filled  with  Federal  trains  and  troops.  Capturing  or  scattering 
these  in  every  direction,  he  follows  on  after  the  main  body,  which 
has  already  passed  him  towards  Winchester.  He  overhauls  them 
in  the  afternoon,  pushes  Banks'  rear  guard  before  him  all  night, 
and  having  given  but  one  hour  to  rest,  at  daylight  on  the  25th 
of  May  reaches  Winchester,  to  find  the  Federal  forces  drawn  up 

*  Dabney's  Life  of  Jackson,  page  359.  General  Lee  says,  May  16th,  to  Jackson!:  "  Whatever 
may  be  Bank.s'  intention,  it  is  very  desirable  to  prevent  him  from  going  either  to  Fredericks- 
burg  or  the  Peninsula.  .  .  A  successful  blow  struck  at  him  would  delay,  if  it  did  not  pre 
vent,  his  moving  to  either  place.  .  .  .  But  you  will  not  .  .  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  it 
may  become  necessary  for  you  to  come  to  the  support  of  General  Johnston. 

t  See  Confederate  official  reports ;  also  Camper  &  Kirkley's  History  of  the  First  Maryland 
Regiment  (Federal). 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  2// 

across  the  approaches  to  the  town  from  the  south  and  southeast.* 
The  main  part  of  Banks'  army  occupies  the  ridge  on  which 
Kernstown  had  been  fought,  but  at  a  point  two  miles  further 
north,  while  another  part  holds  the  Front  Royal  road,  on  which 
Ewell  with  a  part  of  his  division  is  advancing.  A  vigorous 
attack  is  at  once  made  by  the  Confederates,  which  for  a  short 
time  is  bravely  resisted,  but  the  Federal  lines  begin  to  yield,  and 
seeing  himself  about  to  be  overwhelmed,  Banks  retreats  through 
Winchester.  Jackson  presses  closely,  and  the  Federals  emerge 
from  the  town  a  mass  of  disordered  fugitives,  making  their  way 
with  all  speed  towards  the  Potomac.  The  Confederate  infantry 
follows  for  several  miles,  capturing  a  large  number  of  prisoners, 
and  had  the  cavalry  been  as  efficient,  but  few  of  Banks'  'troops 
would  have  escaped. f  Banks  halts  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Potomac,  and  Jackson  allows  his  exhausted  men  to  rest  at  Win 
chester. 

Thorough  and  glorious  was  Jackson's  victory.  In  forty-eight 
hours  the  enemy  had  been  driven  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles, 
from  Front  Royal  and  Strasburg  .to  the  Potomac,  with  the  loss 
of  nearly  one-half  of  his  strength.  His  army  had  crossed  that 
'river  a  disorganized  mass.  Hundreds  of  wagons  had  been  aban 
doned  or  burnt.  Two  pieces  of  artillery  and  an  immense  quan 
tity  of  quartermaster,  commissary,  medical  and  ordnance  stores 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  victor.  "  Some  twenty-three 
hundred  prisoners"  were  taken  to  the  rear  when  Jackson  fell 
back,  besides  seven  hundred  and  fifty  wounded  and  sick  paroled 
and  left  in  the  hospitals  at  Winchester  and  Strasburg,  making  a 
total  of  about  three  thousand  and  fifty,  t 

A  day  is  given,  according  to  Jackson's  custom,  to  religious 
services  and  thanksgiving,  and  another  to  rest,  and  on  the  third 
he  is  again  moving  towards  Harper's  Ferry,  in  order,  by  the  most 
energetic  diversion  possible,  to  draw  away  troops  from  Rich 
mond.  How  well  he  effected  this,  a  glance  at  the  Federal  move 
ments  will  show. 

As  above  stated,  the  quiet  that  succeeded  Kernstown,  the 
advance  of  Banks  far  into  the  Valley  and  the  movement  of  Jack 
son  to  West  Virginia,  had  calmed  the  apprehensions  of  the  Fede 
ral  Administration  for  the  time  in  regard  to  Washington,  and  the 
urgent  requests  of  McClellan  and  McDowell,  that  the  latter's 
corps  should  be  sent  forward  from  Fredericksburg  towards  Rich 
mond,  were  listened  to.  Shields  was  detached  from  Banks  and 
sent  to  McDowell,  and  on  May  i^th  the  latter  was  ordered  to 

*  See  Banks'  and  other  Federal  reports.— Rebellion  Record,  volume  V,  page  52. 
t  See  Jackson's  and  Ewell's  reports, 
t  Jackson's  report. 


2/8  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

prepare  to  move  down  the  Fredericksburg  railroad  to  unite  with 
McClellan  before  Richmond.  On  Friday,  May  23d,  the  very  day 
of  Jackson's  attack  at  Front  Royal,  President  Lincoln  and  Sec 
retary  Stanton  went  to  Fredericksburg  to  confer  with  General 
McDowell,  found  that  Shields  had  already  reached  that  point, 
and  determined,  after  consultation,  that  the  advance  should  begin 
on  the  following  Monday  (May  26th).*  McClellan  was  informed 
of  the  contemplated  movement  and  instructed  to  assume  com 
mand  of  McDowell's  corps  when  it  joined  him.f  This  fine 
body  of  troops  moving  from  the  north  against  the  Confederate 
capital,  would  have  seized  all  the  roads  entering  the  city  from 
that  direction,  and  would  have  increased  McClellan's  available 
force  by  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent.  There  was  strong  reason 
to  except  that  this  combined  movement  would  effect  the  down 
fall  of  Richmond. 

The  Federal  President  returned  to  Washington  on  the  night 
of  the  23d  to  await  the  result.  He  there  received  the  first  news 
of  Jackson's  operations  at  Front  Royal  the  preceding  afternoon. 
The  first  dispatches  indicated,  only  an  unimportant  raid,  and  Mc 
Dowell  was  directed  by  telegraph  to  leave  his  "least  effective" 
brigade  at  Fredericksburg,^  in  addition  to  the  forces  agreed  upon 
for  the  occupation  of  that  town.  Later,  on  the  24th,  the  news 
from  Banks  became  more  alarming,  and  General  McDowell  was 
dispatched  that  "General  Fremont  had  been  ordered  by  tele 
graph  to  move  from  Franklin  on  Harrisonburg  to  relieve  General 
Banks  and  capture  or  destroy  Jackson's  and  Ewell's  forces.  You 
are  instructed,  laying  aside  for  the  present  the  movement  on 
Richmond,  to  put  twenty  thousand  men  in  motion  for  the  Shen- 
andoah,  moving  on  the  line  or  in  advance  of  the  line  of  the 
Manassas  Gap  railroad.  Your  object  will  be  to  capture  the  forces 
of  Jackson  and  Ewell,  either  in  co-operation  with  General  Fre 
mont,  or  in  case  want  of  supplies  or  of  transportation  interferes 
with  his  movement,  it  is  believed  that  the  force  with  which  you 
move  will  be  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  object  alone."  .  .  The 
following  was  sent  to  McClellan  at  4  P.  M.  on  May  24th:  "In 
consequence  of  General  Banks'  critical  position,  I  have  been  com 
pelled  to  suspend  General  McDowell's  movements  to  join  you. 
The  enemy  are  making  a  desperate  push  on  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
we  are  trying  to  throw  Fremont's  force  and  part  of  McDowell's 
in  their  rear."  Signed,  A.  Lincoln. 

Next  day  the  news  from  Banks  seems  to  have  greatly  increased 
the  excitement  in  Washington.  The  following  telegrams  were 
sent  to  General  McClellan,  May  25th,  by  President  Lincoln: 

*See  McDowell's  testimony,  before  referred  to. 
t  See  McClellau's  report. 
»See  iIcDowell'3  testimony. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  2/9 

"The  enemy  is  moving  north  in  sufficient  force  to  drive  Banks 
before  him,  in  precisely  what  force  we  cannot  tell.     He  is  also 
threatening  Leesburg,  and  Geary  on  the  Manassas  Gap  railroad, 
from  both   north  and  south,  in  precisely  what  force  we  cannot 
tell.     I  think  the  movement  is  a  general  and  concerted  one,  such 
as  could  not  be  if  he  was  acting  upon  the  purpose  of  a  very  des 
perate  defence  of  Richmond.     I  think  the  time  is  near  when  you 
must  either  attack  Richmond  or  give  up  the  job  and  come  to  the 
defence  of  Washington.     Let  me  hear  from  you  instantly."     A 
later  one  reads:  "Your  dispatch  received.     Banks  was  at  Stras- 
burg  with  about  six  thousand  men — Shields  having  been  taken 
from  him  to  swell  a  column  for  McDowell  to  aid  you  at  Rich 
mond — and  the  rest  of  his  force  scattered  at  various  places.     On 
the  23d  a  Rebel  force  of  seven  to  ten  thousand  men  fell  upon 
one  regiment  and  two  companies  guarding  the  bridge  at  Front 
Royal,  destroying  it  entirely,  crossed  the  Shenandoah,  and  on  the 
24th  (yesterday)  pushed  to  get  north  of  Banks  on  the  road  to 
Winchester.     Banks  ran  a  race  with   them,  beating   them    into 
Winchester  yesterday  evening.     This  morning  a  battle  ensued 
between  the  two  forces,  in  which  Banks  was  beaten  back  into  full 
retreat  towards   Martinsburg,  and  probably  is  broken   up  into  a 
total  rout.     Geary,  on  the  Manassas  Gap  railroad,  just  now  re 
ports  that  Jackson  is  now  near  Front   Royal  with  ten  thousand, 
following  up  and  supporting,  as  I  understand,  the  force  now  pur 
suing  Banks;  also  that  another  force  of  ten  thousand  is  near  Or 
leans,  following  on  in  the  same  direction.     Stripped  bare  as  we 
are  here,  it  will  be  all  we  can  do  to  prevent  them  crossing  the  Poto 
mac  at  Harper's  Ferry  or  above.     We  have  about  twenty  thousand 
men  of  McDowell's  force  moving  back  to  the  vicinity  of  Front 
Royal,  and   Fremont,  who  was  at  Franklin,  is   moving  to   Har- 
risonburg.     Both  of  these  movements  are  intended  to  get  in  the 
enemy's   rear.      One  more  of   McDowell's  brigades  j$  ordered 
through  here  to  Harper's   Ferry.     The  rest  of  his  forces   remain 
for  the  present  at  Fredericksburg.     \Ve  are  sending  such  regi 
ments  and  dribs  from  here  and  Baltimore  as  we  can  spare  to 
Harper's   Ferry,  supplying  their  places  in  some  sort  by  calling 
on  the  militia  from  the  adjacent  States.     We  also  have  eighteen 
cannon  on  the  road  to  Harper's  Ferry,  of  which  arm  there  is  not 
a  single  one  yet  at  that  point.     This   is   now  our  situation.     If 
McDowell's   force  was   now  beyond   our   reach,  we   should   be 
utterly  helpless.     Apprehensions  of  something  like  this,  and  no 
unwillingness  to  sustain  you,  has  always  been  my  reason  for 
withholding   McDowell's   forces   from   you.     Please   understand 
this,  and  do  the  best  you  can  with  the  forces  you  have."* 

*  For  foregoing  dispatches  see  McDowell's  testimony  and  McClellan's  report. 


2O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

The  exaggerations  of  this  dispatch  show  the  panic  produced. 
Jackson  had  no  troops  at  Orleans,  or  anywhere  east  of  the  Blue 
Ridge  (except  a  little  cavalry),  and  his  entire  force,  which  was  all 
with  him,  was  about  sixteen  thousand  men.* 

This  dispatch  shows,  however,  that  Jackson  was  for  the  time 
not  only  occupying  all  the  troops  in  and  around  Washington, 
together  with  Fremont's  forces,  but  was  completely  neutralizing 
the  forty  thousand  under  McDowell,  and  thus  disconcerting 
McClellan's  plans. 

But  if  the  skill,  celerity  and  daring  of  Jackson  are  illustrated 
in  his  movement  against  Banks,  these  qualities  shine  out  far  more 
brilliantly  in  his  retreat  from  the  Potomac  and  in  his  battles  at 
Port  Republic.     He  moved  to   Harper's  Ferry  on  the  28th  of 
May,  and  spent  the  2g\h  in  making  demonstrations  against  the 
force  that  had  been  rapidly  gathered  there,  but  which  was   too 
strongly  posted  to  be  attacked  in  front.     Time  did  not  allow  a 
crossing  of  the  river  and  an  investment  of  the  place.     The  large 
bodies  of  troops  which  the  Federal  Administration  was  hastening 
from  every  direction  to  overwhelm  him  were  already  closing  in. 
McDowell,  with  twenty  thousand   men,  followed  by  another 
division  of  ten  thousand  more,  was  hurrying  towards  Front  Royal 
and  Strasburg,  and  Fremont,  now  awake  to  the  fact  that  his  enemy- 
had  pushed  him  back  into  the  mountains,  and  then  slipped  away 
to  destroy  his  colleague,  was  moving  with  his  fourteen  thousand 
or  fifteen  thousand  men  towards  Strasburg.     General  Saxton  had 
seven  thousand  Federal  troopsf  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  Banks 
was  taking  breath  with  the  remnant  of  his  command  (some  seven 
thousand  men  by  his  return  of  May  3ist)  at  Williamsport,  Mary 
land.     Thus  over  fifty-five  thousand  men  were  gathering  to  crush 
Jackson,  wrhose  strength  was  now  not  over  fifteen  thousand.     On 
the  morning  of  May  3Oth  he  began  his  retreat,  by  ordering  all 
his  troops  except  Winder's  brigade,  Bradley  Johnson's  Maryland 
regiment  and  the  cavalry,  to  fall  back  to  Winchester.     Nor  was 
he  an  hour  too  soon,  for  before  he  reached  that  town  McDowell's 
advance  had  poured  over  the  Blue  Ridge,  driven  out  the  small 
guard  left  at  Front  Royal  and  captured  the  village. 

The  condition  of  affairs  when  Jackson  reached  Winchester  on 
the  evening  of  May  3<Dth,  was  as  follows:  the  Federals  were  in 
possession  of  Front  Royal,  which  is  but  twelve  miles  from  Stras 
burg,  while  Winchester  is  eighteen. J  Fremont  was  at  Wardens- 
ville,  distant  twenty  miles  from  Strasburg,  and  had  telegraphed 
President  Lincoln  that  he  would  enter  the  latter  place  by  5  P.  M. 

*  Dabney's  Life,  page  364.    Major  Dabney  was  at  this  time  Chief-of-Staff  to  General  Jack 
son. 

t  Saxton's  report.— Rebellion  Record,  volume  V. 
I  McDowell's  testimony. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  28 1 

on  the  next  day.*  The  mass  of  Jackson's  forces  had  marched 
twenty-five  miles  to  reach  Winchester,  and  his  rear  guard,  under 
Winder  (after  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  at  Harper's  Ferry  for 
part  of  the  day)  had  camped  at  Halltown,t  which  is  over  forty 
miles  distant  from  Strasburg! 

The  next  day,  Saturday,  May  3ist,  witnessed  a  race  for  Stras 
burg,  which  was  in  Jackson's  direct  line  of  retreat,  but  it  was  very 
different  in  character  from  the  race  of  the  preceding  Saturday. 
Orders  were  issued  for  everything'  in  the  Confederate  camp  to 
move  early  in  the  morning.  The  twenty-three  hundred  Federal 
prisoners  were  first  sent  forward,  guarded  by  the  Twenty-first 
Virginia  regiment;  next  the  long  trains,  including  many  captured 
wagons  loaded  with  stores;  then  followed  the  whole  of  the  army, 
except  the  rear  guard  under  Winder. 

Jackson  reached  Strasburg  on  Saturday  afternoon  without  mo 
lestation  and  encamped,  thus  placing  himself  directly  between 
the  two  armies  that  were  hastening  to  attack  him.  Here  he  re 
mained  for  twenty-four  hours,  holding 'his  two  opponents  apart 
until  Winder  could  close  up,  and  the  last  of  the  long  trains  could 
be  sent  to  the  rear.  Winder,  with  the  Stonewall  brigade,  had 
marched  thirty-five  miles  on  Saturday,  and  by  Sunday  noon  had 
rejoined  the  main  body.  Meantime  Shields  and  McDowell  had 
been  bewildered  at  Front  Royal  by  the  celerity  of  Jackson's 
movements,  and  had  spent  Saturday  in  moving  out — first  towards 
Winchester,  and  then  on  other  roads,  and  finally  in  doing  nothing.! 
Fremont  had  stopped  five  miles  short  of  Strasburg  on  Saturday 
night,  and  on  Sunday  was  held  in  checks  by  Ashby,  supported 
by  part  of  Fwell's  division.  On  Sunday  McDowell,  despairing 
of  "heading  off"  Jackson,  sent  his  cavalry  to  unite  with  Fremont 
at  Strasburg  in  pursuing  the  Confederates,  and  dispatched  Shields' 
division  up  the  Luray  Valley, ||  with  the  sanguine  hope  that  the 
latter  might,  by  moving  on  the  longer  and  worse  road,  get  in  the 
rear  of  Jackson,  who  with  a  day's  start  was  movincr  on  the  shorter 

J  *  o 

and  better! 

On  Friday  morning  Jackson  was  in  front  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
fifty  miles  in  advance  of  Strasburg;  Fremont  was  at  Moorefield, 
thirty-eight  miles  from  Strasburg,  with  his  advance  ten  miles  on 
the  way  to  that  place;  Shields  was  not  more  than  twenty  miles 
from  Strasburg  (for  his  advance  entered  Front  Royal,  which  is 
but  twelve  miles  distant,  before  midday  on  Friday),  while  Mc 
Dowell  was  following  with  another  division  within  supporting 
distance.  Yet  by  Sunday  night  Jackson  had  marched  a  distance 

*  Fremont's  report.  t  Jackson's  and  Winder's  reports. 

i  McDowell's  testimony.  §  Fremont's  report. 

i  McDowell's  testimony. 
19 


282  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

of  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles,  though  encumbered  with  pris 
oners  and  captured  stores,  had  reached  Strasburg  before  either 
of  his  adversaries,  and  had  passed  safely  between  their  armies, 
while  he  held  Fremont  at  bay  by  a  show  of  force,  and  blinded 
and  bewildered  McDowell  by  the  rapidity  of  his  movements. 

Then  followed  five  days  of  masterly  retreat.  The  failure  of 
McDowell  to  attack  him  at  Strasburg  caused  Jackson  to  suspect 
the  movement  of  his  forces  up  the  Page  or  Luray  Valley.*  Mc 
Dowell  himself  did  not  go  beyond  Front  Royal,  but  sent  Shields' 
division  to  follow  Jackson.  The  road  up  the  Page  Valley  runs 
along  the  east  side  of  the  main  Shenandoah  river,  which  was 
then  impassable,  except  at  the  bridges.  Of  these  there  were  but 
three  in  the  whole  length  of  the  Page  Valley — two  opposite  New 
Market,  but  a  few  miles  apart,  and  a  third  at  Conrad's  store,  op 
posite  Harrisonburg.  Jackson  promptly  burned  the  first  two, 
and  thus  left  Shields  with  an  impassable  river  between  them, 
entirely  unable  to  harass  his  flank  or  impede  his  march.  Hav 
ing  thus  disposed  of  one  of  the  pursuing  armies,  he  fell  back 
before  Fremont  by  moderate  stages,  entrusting  the  protection  of 
the  rear  to  the  indefatigable  Ashby.  As  Fremont  approached 
Harrisonburg  on  the  6th  of  June,  Jackson  left  it.  Instead  of 
taking  the  road  via  Conrad's  store  to  Swift  Run  gap,  as  he  had 
done  when  retreating  before  Banks  in  April,  he  now  took  the 
road  to  Port  Republic,  where  the  branches  of  the  main  Shenan 
doah  unite.  He  next  sent  a  party  to  burn  the  bridge  at  Con 
rad's  store,  which  afforded  the  last  chance  of  a  union  of  his 
adversaries  north  of  Port  Republic.  The  bridge  at  the  latter 
place,  together  with  a  ford  on  the  South  river — the  smaller  of 
the  tributaries  which  there  form  the  Shenandoah — gave  him  the 
means  of  crossing  from  one  side  to  the  other — of  which  by  the 
destruction  of  the  other  bridges  he  had  deprived  his  enemies. 

And  now  came  the  crowning  act  of  his  campaign.  When  his 
enemies  were  already  closing  in  on  his  rear  with  overwhelming 
force,  he  had  with  wonderful  celerity  passed  in  safety  between 
them.  He  had  continued  his  retreat  until  they  were  now  drawn 
one  hundred  miles  from  the  Potomac.  A  large  fraction  of  his 
pursuers  had  given  up  the  chase,  and  were  off  his  hands.  Banks 
had  only  come  as  far  as  Winchester.  Saxton  from  Harper's 
Ferry  had  only  followed  the  rear  guard  under  Winder  for  part  of 
one  day,  and  had  then  gone  into  camp,  "exhausted,"  as  he  states. 
McDowell,  with  two  divisions,  had  remained  at  Front  Royal  when 
Shields  moved  towards  Luray — the  latter  officer  undertaking 
with  his  one  division  to  "clean  out  the  Valley."  Hence  Jackson 

*  Jackson's  report. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  283 

had  now  but  Fremont's  forces,  about  equal  to  his  own  in  number, 
pressing  on  his  rear,  while  Shields  was  making  his  toilsome  way 
up  the  Page  Valley,  and  was  a  day  or  two  behind. 

By  laying  hold  of  the  bridges  he  had  placed  an  impassible 
barrier  between  his  two  pursuers,  and  now  he  occupied  the  point 
where  their  two  routes  converged.  No  further  to  the  rear  would 
the  Shenandoah  serve  as  a  barrier  to  their  junction,  for  south  of 
Port  Republic  its  head  waters  are  easily  fordable.  Here,  too, 
was  Brown's  gap  near  at  hand,  an  easily  defended  pass  in  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  affording  a  good  route  out  of  the  Valley  in  case 
of  need. 

In  this  position  Jackson  determined  to  stand  and  fight  his  ad 
versaries  in  detail. 

On  Friday,  June  6th,  the  foot-sore  Confederates  went  into  camp 
at  different  points  along  the  five  miles  of  road  that  intervened 
between  Port  Republic  and  Cross  Keys,  the  latter  a  point  half 
way  between  the  former  village  and  Harrisonburg.  The  skirmish 
on  that  day,  in  which  Fremont's  cavalry  was  severely  punished, 
is  memorable,  because  in  it  fell  Turner  Ashby — the  generous,  the 
chivalric,  the  high-soulcd  knight,  who,  as  commander  of  his 
horse,  had  so  faithfully  and  gloriously  contributed  to  Jackson's 
achievements.  The  next  day  was  given  to  rest;  and  sorrow  for 
the  loss  of  Ashby  replaced  all  other  feelings  for  the  time.  But 
brief  the  time  for  sorrow.  War  gives  much  space  to  the  grand 
emotions  that  lead  to  heroic  doing  or  heroic  bearing,  but  is  nig 
gardly  in  its  allowance  to  the  softer  feelings  of  sadness  and  grief. 
As  Ashby  is  borne  away  to  his  burial,  all  thoughts  turn  once 
more  to  the  impending  strife.  Fremont  was  advancing.  He  had 
been  emboldened  by  the  retreat  of  the  Confederates,  and  failing 
to  comprehend  the  object  of  Jackson's  movements,  pushed  on  to 
seize  the  prey,  which  he  deemed  now  within  his  grasp.  His  troops 
were  all  up  by  Saturday  night,  and  his  dispositions  were  made 
for  attack  on  Sunday  morning,  June  8th. 

But  though  Fremont  was  thus  close  at  hand,  while  Shields, 
detained  by  bad  roads,  with  his  main  body,  was  yet  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  off,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  yet  the  opening  of 
the  battle  on  Sunday  was  made  by  a  dash  of  Shields'  cavalry 
under  Colonel  Carroll  into  Port  Republic.  They  had  been  sent* 
on,  a  day's  march  in  advance,  and  meeting  but  a  small  force  of 
Confederate  cavalry,  had  driven  them  pell-mell  into  Port  Republic, 
dashed  across  South  river  after  them,  seized  and  for  a  few  minutes 
held  the  bridge  over  the  larger  stream.  Jackson  had  just  passed 
through  the  village  as  they  entered  it.  Riding  rapidly  to  the 
nearest  troops  north  of  the  bridge,  he  directed  one  of  Poague's 
guns  and  one  of  Taliaferro's  regiments  (Thirty-seventh  Virginia) 


284  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

on  the  bridge,  quickly  retook  it,  captured  two  cannon,  and  drove 
these  adventurous  horsemen  back.*  They  retired  two  or  three 
miles  with  their  infantry  supports,  and  as  the  bluffs  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  command  the  roads  on  the  east  side,  a  battery 
or  two  kept  them  inactive  for  the  remainder  of  the  day. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Shields,  from  Luray,  was  dispatching 
Fremont  as  follows  :f 

June  Sth— 9£  A.  M. 

I  write  by  your  scout.  I  think  by  this  time  there  will  be 
twelve  pieces  of  artillery  opposite  Jackson's  train  at  Port  Republic, 
if  he  has  taken  that  route.  Some  cavalry  and  artillery  pushed 
on  to  Waynesboro'  to  burn  the  bridge.  I  hope  to  have  two  bri 
gades  at  Port  Republic  to-day.  I  follow  myself  with  two  other 
brigades  from  this  place.  If  the  enemy  changes  direction,  you 
will  please  keep  me  advised.  If  he  attempts  to  force  a  passage, 
as  my  force  is  not  large  there  yet,  I  hope  you  will  thunder  down 
on  his  rear.  Please  send  back  information  from  time  to  time. 
I  think  Jackson  is  caught  this  time. 

Yours,  sincerely, 

JAMES  SHIELDS. 

Meanwhile,  Fremont  had  marshaled  his  brigades  and  was 
pressing  on  in  brilliant  array  to  "  thunder  down  "  on  his  adver 
sary's  rear.  To  the  gallant  Fwell  and  his  division  had  Jackson 
assigned  the  duty  of  meeting  the  foe.  His  other  troops  were 
in  the  rear,  and  nearer  to  Port  Republic,  to  watch  movements 
there,  and  to  assist  General  Ewell  if  necessary.  Ewell  was  drawn 
up  on  a  wooded  ridge  near  Cross  Keys,  with  an  open  meadow 
and  rivulet  in  front.  On  a  parallel  ridge  beyond  the  rivulet  Fre 
mont  took  position.  The  Federal  General  first  moved  forward 
his  left,  composed  of  Blenker's  Germans,  to  the  attack.  They 
were  met  by  General  Trimble,  one  of  Ewell's  brigadiers,  with 
three  regiments  of  his  brigade.  Trimble  coolly  withheld  his  fire 
until  the  Germans  were  close  upon  him.  Then  a  few  deadly 
volleys  and  the  attack  is  broken,  and  the  Federal  left  wing  bloodily 
and  decisively  repulsed. J  That  sturdy  old  soldier  General  Trimble, 
having  been  reinforced,  presses  forward,  dislodges  the  batteries 
in  position  in  his  front,  and  threatens  the  overthrow  of  Fremont's 
left  wing.  While  this  last  is  not  accomplished,  the  handling 
Blenker  has  received  is  so  rough  as  completely  to  paralyze  the 
remainder  of  Fremont's  operations.  The  attack  on  centre  and 
right  become  little  more  than  artillery  combats,  and  by  the  mid- 

*  See  Jackson'.-;,  Winder's,  Taliaferro's  and  Poague's  reports, 
t  Fremont's  report, 
i  Trimble's  report. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM     ALLAN.  285 

die  of  the  afternoon  Fremont  withdraws  his  whole  line.*  Ewell's 
force  was  about  six  thousand,  and  his  loss  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven,  f  Fremont's  force  twice  as  great,  and  his  loss  over  six 
hundred  and  fifty. J 

About  the  time  of  Fremont's  repulse,  General  Tyler,  with  one 
of  Shields'  infantry  brigades,  reached  the  position,  near  Lewiston, 
to  which  Colonel  Carroll  had  retired  in  the  morning;  but  so  strong 
was  the  position  held  by  the  Confederate  batteries  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  that  Tyler  felt  it  impossible  to  make  any  diver 
sion  in  favor  of  Fremont,  and  with  his  force  of  three  thousand 
men  remained  idle.§ 

Jackson,  emboldened  by  the  inactivity  of  Shields'  advance,  and 
the  easy  repulse  of  Fremont,  conceived  the  audacious  design  of 
attacking  his  two  opponents  in  succession  the  next  day,  with  the 
hope  of  overwhelming  them  separately. ||  For  this  purpose  he 
directed  that  during  the  night  a  temporary  bridge,  composed 
simply  of  planks  laid  upon  the  running  gear  of  wagons,  should 
be  constructed  over  the  South  river  at  Port  Republic,  and  ordered 
Winder  to  move  his  brigade,  at  dawn,  across  both  rivers  and 
against  Shields.  E\vell  was  directed  to  leave  Trimble's  brigade 
and  part  of  Patton's  to  hold  Fremont  in  check,  and  to  move  at 
an  early  hour  to  Port  Republic,  to  follow  Winder.  Taliaferro's 
brigade  was  left  in  charge  of  the  batteries  along  the  river,  and  to 
protect  Trimble's  retreat,  if  necessary.  The  force  left  in  Fre 
mont's  front  was  directed  to  make  all  the  show  possible,  and  to 
delay  the  Federal  advance  to  the  extent  of  its  power.  The  Con 
federate  commander  proposed,  in  case  of  an  easy  victory  over 
Shields  in  the  morning,  to  return  to  the  Harrisonburg  side  of  the 
river  and  attack  Fremont  in  the  afternoon.  In  case,  however,  of 
delay,  and  a  vigorous  advance  on  Fremont's  part,  Trimble  was  to 
retire  by  the  bridge  into  Port  Republic  and  burn  it,  in  order  to 
prevent  his  antagonist  from  following. 

Jackson  urged  forward  in  person  the  construction  of  the  foot 
bridge  and  the  slow  passage  of  his  troops  over  the  imperfect 
structure.  When  Winder's  and  Taylor's  brigades  had  crossed, 
he  would  wait  no  longer,  but  moved  forward  towards  the  enemy; 
and  when  he  found  him  ordered  Winder  to  attack.  The  Federal 
General  Tyler  had  posted  his  force  strongly  on  a  line  perpen 
dicular  to  the  river — his  left  especially  in  a  commanding  position, 
and  protected  by  dense  woods.  Winder  attacked  with  vigor,  but 
soon  found  the  Federal  position  too  strong  to  be  carried  by  his 


*  Fremont's  report.  t  Ewell's  report. 

t  Fremont's  report.  5  Tyler's  report. 

I  Dabney's  Life. 


286  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

brigade  of  twelve  hundred  men.  Taylor  went  to  his  assistance, 
but  met  with  a  stubborn  resistance  and  varying  success.  Winder 
was  forced  back  until  other  troops  came  up,  and  enabled  him  once 
more  to  go  forward.  Jackson,  having  failed  in  his  first  attack, 
and  finding  the  resistance  of  Shields'  force  so  much  more  stub 
born  than  he  had  expected,  with  a  quickness  of  decision  worthy 
of  Napoleon,  gave  up  his  audacious  plan  of  recrossing  the  river 
and  determined  to  concentrate  his  whole  force  against  Shields. 
He  therefore  sent  orders  to  Trimble  and  Taliaferro  to  leave  Fre 
mont's  front,  move  over  the  bridge,  burn  it,  and  join  the  main 
body  of  the  army  as  speedily  as  possible.  This  was  done.  Be 
fore  his  rear  guard  had  arrived,  however,  a  renewed  attack  in 
overwhelming  force  on  Tyler  had  carried  his  position,  captured 
his  battery,  and  compelled  him  to  retreat  in  more  or  less  dis 
order.  The  pursuit  continued  for  eight  miles.  Four  hundred 
and  fifty  prisoners  and  six  guns  were  captured,  and  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  wounded  paroled  in  the  hospitals  near  the  field. 
The  Federal  loss  by  the  official  reports  in  the  Adjutant-General's 
office  was  eight  hundred  and  thirty.  The  Medical  and  Surgical 
History  of  the  War  puts  it  at  one  thousand  and  two.  Jackson's 
total  loss  was  eight  hundred  and  seventy-six.* 

Fremont  had  advanced  cautiously  against  Trimble  in  the  after 
noon,  and  had  followed,  as  the  latter  withdrew  and  burnt  the 
bridge.  By  this  last  act  Fremont  was  compelled  to  remain  an 
inactive  spectator  of  the  defeat  of  Tyler. 

General  Fremont  thus  describes  the  scene  when  he  reached 
the  river:  "The  battle  which  had  taken  place  upon  the  further 
bank  of  the  river  was  wholly  at  an  end.  A  single  brigade"  (in 
fact  two)  "sent  forward  by  General  Shields  had  been  simply  cut 
to  pieces.  Colonel  Carroll  .  .  had  .  .  failed  to  burn  the 
bridge.  Jackson,  hastening  across,  had  fallen  upon  the  inferior 
force,  and  the  result  was  before  us.  Of  the  bridge  nothing  re 
mained  but  the  charred  and  smoking  timbers.  Beyond,  at  the 
edge  of  the  woods,  a  body  of  the  enemy's  troops  was  in  position, 
and  a  baggage  train  was  disappearing  in  a  pass  among  the  hills. 
Parties  gathering  the  dead  and  wounded,  together  with  a  line  of 
prisoners  awaiting  the  movement  of  the  Rebel  force  near  by,  was 
all  in  respect  to  troops  of  either  side  now  to  be  seen." 

Thus  the  day  ended  with  the  complete  defeat  of  the  two  bri 
gades  under  Tyler.  Gallant  and  determined  had  been  their  re 
sistance,  and  Jackson's  impetuosity  had  made  his  victory  more 
difficult  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  In  sending  in 
Winder's  brigade  before  its  supports  arrived,  he  had  hurled  this 

*  See  reports  of  Jackson  ana  his  subordinates ;  also  of  General  Tyler,  Rebellion  Record' 
volume  V,  page  110. 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  28/ 

body  of  troops  against  more  than  twice  their  number.  Taylor 
next  attacked,  but  the  repulse  of  Winder  enabled  the  Federal 
commander  to  concentrate  his  forces  against  Taylor,  and  drive 
him  from  the  battery  he  had  taken.  It  was  then  that  Jackson 
renewed  the  attack  with  the  combined  forces  of  three  brigades, 
and  speedily  forced  the  enemy  from  the  field.  The  Confederate 
trains  had  been  moved  in  the  course  of  the  clay  across  South 
river  towards  Brown's  gap,  and  during  the  afternoon  and  night 
the  Confederates  returned  from  the  battlefield  and  pursuit  to 
camp  at  the  foot  of  this  mountain  pass.  It  was  midnight  before 
some  of  them  lay  down  in  the  rain  to  rest. 

This  double  victory  ended  the  pursuit  of  Jackson*.  Fremont 
on  the  next  morning  began  to  retreat,  and  retired  sixty  miles  to 
Strasburg.  Shields,  so  soon  as  his  broken  brigades  rejoined 
him,  retreated  to  Front  Royal,  and  was  thence  transferred  to 
Manassas. 

The  battles  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic  closed  this  cele 
brated  campaign.  Just  three  months  had  passed  since  Jackson, 
with  about  forty-six  hundred  troops,  badly  armed  and  equipped, 
had  fallen  back  from  Winchester  before  the  advance  of  Banks 
with  over  thirty  thousand  men.  So  feeble  seemed  his  force,  and 
so  powerless  for  offence,  that  when  it  had  been  pushed  forty  miles 
to  the  rear,  Banks  began  to  send  his  force  towards  Manassas,  to 
execute  his  part  of  "  covering  the  Federal  capital  "  in  McClellan's 
great  campaign.  While  a  large  part  of  the  Federal  troops  is  on 
the  march  out  of  the  Valley,  and  their  commander  is  himself  en 
route  from  Winchester  to  Washington,  Jackson,  hastening  from 
his  resting  place  by  a  forced  march,  appears  most  unexpectedly 
at  Kernstown,  and  hurls  his  little  army  with  incredible  force  and 
fury  against  the  part  of  Banks'  army  which  is  yet  behind.  He 
is  mistaken  as  to  the  numbers  of  the  enemy.  Three  thousand 
men,  worn  by  a  forced  march,  are  not  able  to  defeat  the  seven 
thousand  of  Shields'.  After  a  fierce  struggle,  he  suffers  a  severe 
repulse,  but  he  makes  such  an  impression  as  to  cause  the  recall 
of  a  strong  force  from  McClellan  to  protect  Washington.  The 
Federal  Administration  cannot  believe  that  he  has  attacked  Shields 
with  a  handful  of  men. 

Falling  back  before  his  pursuers,  he  leaves  the  main  road  at 
Harrisonburg,  and  crossing  over  to  Swift  Run  gap  he  takes  a 
position  in  which  he  cannot  be  readily  attacked,  and  which  yet 
enables  him  so  to  threaten  the  flank  of  his  oponent,  as  to  effect 
ually  check  his  further  progress.  Here  he  gains  ten  days'  time 
for  the  reorganization  of  his  regiments  (the  time  of  service  of  most 
of  which  expired  in  April),  and  here,  too,  the  return  of  furloughed 
men  and  the  accession  of  volunteers  nearly  doubled  his  numbers. 


288  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Finding  that  no  more  troops  could  be  obtained  beside  those 
of  Evvell  and  Edward  Johnson,  he  leaves  the  former  to  hold 
Banks  in  check,  while  he  makes  a  rapid  and  circuitous  march  to 
General  Edward  Johnson's  position,  near  Staunton. 

Uniting  Johnson's  force  with  his  own,  he  appears  suddenly  in 
front  of  Milroy,  at  McDowell,  only  eight  days  after  having  left 
Swift  Run  gap.  He  has  marched  one  hundred  miles  and  crossed 
the  Blue  Ridge  twice  in  this  time,  and  now  repulses  Milroy  and 
Schenck,  and  follows  them  up  to  Franklin.  Then  finding  Fremont 
within  supporting  distance,  he  begins  on  May  13  to  retra'ce  his 
steps,  marching  through  Harrisonburg,  New  Market,  Luray — 
Ewell  joining  him  on  the  road  and  swelling  his  force  to  sixteen 
thousand  men — and  on  May  23  suddenly  appears  at  Front  Royal 
(distant,  by  his  route,  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from 
Franklin),  and  surprises  and  completely  overwhelms  the  force 
Banks  has  stationed  there.  Next  day  he  strikes  with  damaging 
effect  at  Banks'  retreating  column,  between  Strasburg  and  Win 
chester,  and  follows  him  up  all  night.  At  dawn  he  attacks  him  on 
the  heights  of  Winchester,  forces  him  from  his  position  and  drives 
him  in  confusion  and  dismay  to  the  Potomac,  with  the  loss  of 
immense  stores  and  a  large  number  of  prisoners.  Resting  but 
two  days,  he  marches  to  Harper's  Ferry,  threatens  an  invasion 
of  Maryland  and  spreads  such  alarm  as  to  paralyze  the  move 
ments  of  McDowell's  forty  thousand  men  at  Fredericksburg,  and 
to  cause  the  concentration  of  three-fourths  of  this  force,  together 
with  Fremont's  command,  on  his  rear.  The  militia  of  the  adjoin 
ing  States  is  called  out;  troops  are  hurried  to  Harper's  Ferry  in 
his  front;  more  than  fifty-five  thousand  troops  are  hastening  under 
the  most  urgent  telegrams  to  close  in  around  him.  Keeping  up 
his  demonstrations  until  the  last  moment — until,  indeed,  the  head 
of  McDowell's  column  was  but  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  from  his 
line  of  retreat,  at  a  point  nearly  fifty  miles  in  his  rear — he,  by  a 
forced  march  of  a  day  and  a  half,  traverses  this  distance  of  fifty 
miles  and  places  himself  at  Strasburg.  Here  he  keeps  Fremont 
at  bay  until  his  long  line  of  prisoners  and  captured  stores  has 
passed  through  in  safety  and  his  rear  guard  closed  up.  Then  he 
falls  back  before  Fremont,  while,  by  burning  successively  the 
bridges  over  the  main  fork  of  the  Shenandoah,  he  destroys  all 
co-operation  between  his  pursuers.  Having  retreated  as  far  as 
necessary,  he  turns  off  from  Harrisonburg  to  Port  Republic, 
seizes  the  only  bridge  left  south  of  Front  Royal  over  the  Shen 
andoah,  and  takes  a  position  which  enables  him  to  fight  his 
adversaries  in  succession,  while  they  cannot  succor  each  other. 
Fremont  first  attacks  and  is  severely  repulsed,  and  next  morning 
Jackson,  withdrawing  suddenly  from  his  front  and  destroying  the 


ADDRESS    OF    COLONEL    WILLIAM    ALLAN.  289 

bridge  to  prevent  his  following,  attacks  the  advance  brigades  of 
Shields  and  completely  defeats  them,  driving  them  eight  or  ten 
miles  from  the  battlefield. 

A  week  of  rest,  and  Jackson,  having  disposed  of  his  various  ene 
mies,  and  effected  the  permanent  withdrawal  of  McDowell's  corps 
from  the  forces  opperating  against  Richmond,  is  again  on  the 
march,  and  while  Banks,  Fremont  and  McDowell  are  disposing 
their  broken  or  baffled  forces  to  cover  Washington,  is  hastening 
to  aid  in  the  great  series  of  battles  which  during  the  last  days  of 
June  and  the  early  ones  of  July  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  McClel- 
lan's  army  and  the  relief  of  the  Confederate  capital. 

I  have  thus  tried  to  give  you,  fellow  soldiers  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Vitginia,  an  outline  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant  pages 
of  our  history.  Time  has  not  permitted  me  to  dwell  on  the  great 
deeds  which  crowded  these  few  months,  nor  to  characterize  in 
fitting  terms  of  panegyric  the  mighty  actors  in  them.  I  have 
attempted  nothing  beyond  a  simple  and  carefully  accurate  state 
ment  of  facts.  This  may  help  to  clear  away  from  one  campaign 
the  dust  and  mould  which  already  gather  over  the  memories  of 
our  great  struggle.  It  may  do  more.  It  may,  by  touching  the 
electric  chord  of  association,  transport  us  for  the  time  into  the 
presence  of  the  majestic  dead;  and  of  the  mighty  drama,  the 
acting  of  which  was  like  another  and  a  higher  life,  and  the  con 
templation  of  which  should  tend  to  strengthen,  elevate,  ennoble. 
It  is  wise  in  our  day — it  is  wise  always — to  recur  to  a  time  when 
patriotism  was  a  passion;  when  devotion  to  great  principles 
dwarfed  all  considerations  other  than  those  of  truth  and  right; 
when  DUTY  was  jdt  to  be  the  sublimest  word  in  our  language; 
when  sacrifice  outweighed  selfishness;  when  "human  virtue  was 
equal  to  human  calamity."  Among  the  heroes  of  that  time  Jack 
son  holds  a  splendid  place — an  illustrious  member  of  a  worthy 
band — aye,  a  band  than  which  no  land  in  any  age  can  point  to  a 
worthier! 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  General  J.  A.  Early  made  a 
few  remarks  warmly  commending  it  and  endorsing  its  historical 
value;  and  on  his  motion,  the  Association  unanimously  requested 
Colonel  Allan  to  furnish  a  copy  for  publication. 

On  motion  of  General  B.  T.  Johnson,  seconded  by  General  W. 
B.  Taliaferro,  and  warmly  endorsed  by  others,  the  Association 
unanimously  requested  Dr.  J.  William  Jones  to  compile  a  vol- 
ijme  containing  the  addresses  delivered  at  its  organization  and  at 
its  reunions,  together  with  a  roster  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

On  motion  of  Colonel  C.  S.  Venable,  seconded  by  General  J. 


290  MEMORIAL   VOLVME. 

• 

A.  Early,  the  officers  of  last  year  were  re-elected  unanimously 
and  by  acclimation. 

The  Treasurer's  report  showed  that  the  Virginia  Division  had 
recently  contributed  to  the  relief  of  their  comrades  of  the  Lou 
isiana  Division,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  who  were  suffering 
from  the  yellow  fever  scourge  in  New  Orleans  the  sum  of 

354,817.91. 

THE  BANQUET 

at  the  Saint  Claire  Hotel,  which  followed  the  public  meeting, 
was  one  of  the  most  elegant  affairs  of  the  kind  ever  gotten  up. 
The  room  and  the  tables  were  beautifully  decorated — the  bill  of 
fare,  admirably  served,  embraced  all  of  the  substantiate  and  deli 
cacies  of  the  season,  and  formed  a  contrast  to  the  "rations"  we 
used  to  "draw"  both  amusing  and  refreshing  to  contemplate. 
General  Lee  presided  with  his  accustomed  dignity,  ease  and 
ready  wit,  and  while  all  went  "merry  as  a  marriage  bell"  there 
was  not  a  single  case  of  intoxication  and  no  disorder  of  any  kind 
to  mar  the  pleasure  of  the  occasion.  Indeed,  these  banquets 
have  all  been  marked  by  sobriety  and  good  order. 

In  response  to  toasts,  admirable  speeches  were  made  by  Cap 
tain  E.  A.  Goggin,  Judge  William  I.  Clopton,  Hon.  A.  M.  Keiley, 
General  Marcus  J.  Wright,  Governor  F.  W.  M.  Holliday,  Private 
R.  B.  Berkley,  Colonel  James  Lingan,  Doctor  Carrington,  Colonel 
F.  R.  Farrar,  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  Rev.  H.  Melville  Jackson, 
Major  R.  W.  Hunter  and  General  J.  A.  Early. 

We  regret  that  we  are  not  able  to  publish  many  of  the  speeches 
made  at  these  annual  banquets,  for  they  are  well  worthy  of  pres 
ervation;  but  our  readers  will  thank  us  for  giving  Mr.  Keiley's 
masterly  sketch  of  the  Model  Infantryman. 

SPEECH    OF    HON.  A.  M.  KEILEY. 

After  a  facetious  hit  at  the  cavalry,  and  bringing  down  the 
house  by  saying  that  he  had  never  been  able  to  determine  exactly 
which  was  the  more  pleasant  duty,  to  charge  tlie  artillery  of  the 
enemy y  or  support  your  own,  and  that  he  had  rather  support  a 
wife  and  twelve  children  than  to  do  either,  Mr.  Keiley  said : 

But  I  do  not  propose  to  make  response  to  this  sentiment  by 
any  attempt  to  contrast  the  achievements  of  this  branch  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  with  those  of  the  cavalry  or  artillery. 
That  immortal  army  won  fame  enough  for  all.  Let  me  rather 
acknowledge  the  compliment  by  drawing  a  picture — most  inade 
quate  as  it  must  be — of  a  great  comrade,  who,  whatever  may 


BANQUET.  29! 

have  been  the  arm  in  which  he  was  trained,  won  the  laurels,  for 
ever  unfading,  by  which  his  name  will  be  handed  down  the  ages, 
in  a  career  which  entitles  me  to  claim  him  as  the  Model  Infantry 
man  of  the  Confederacy. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  May  1st,  1863,  that  I  saw 
him  last  in  life:  a  rugged  face,  stained  and  seamed  like  some 
buried  bronze,  marked  by  the  corroding  sweep  of  centuries — a 
face  with  none  of  the  advertisements  of  genius  about  it,  as  though 
nature  had  scorned  to  mar  its  crag-like  grandeur  with  one  facti 
tious  grace — a  gnarled  face,  rough  as  mountain  oaks  must  look 
to  puling  willows — silent,  as  the  pulsing  sea  is  silent,  not  with 
the  rest  of  feebleness,  but  with  the  God-like  balance  of  powers, 
infinite  and  resistless — thoughtful,  with  that  concentrated  thought 
in  whose  consuming  heat  things  vain  and  frivolous  shrivel  and 
evaporate  like  autumn  leaves  in  forest  fires — ambitious,  with  an 
ambition  passing  vulgar  thirsts,  as  pride  passes  vanity;  as  love, 
friendliness;  an  ambition  which  even  some  friends  have  denied 
him,  because  it  was  a  sort  for  which  the  measure  and  standard 
were  to  them  all  unknown — brave,  with  that  superb  courage 
which  dares  without  knowing  that  it  dares — wise,  with  a  wisdom 
that  defied  surprise,  and  never  encountered  the  unexpected — fer 
tile,  inventive,  exhaustless;  of  resource  prodigious,  and  patient 
endurance  more  prodigious — of  such  faculty  and  such  achieve 
ment  that  in  a  public  life  scantily  reaching  two  and  twenty 
months  in  all,  the  dull  earth  was  bursting  with  his  fame,  borne 
by  the  winds,  the  ships  of  the  air,  which  no  blockade  could 
chain. 

A  shadow  darkened  his  grave  face  that  bright  May  morn — not 
of  doubt  or  disappointment,  for  by  some  strange  power  of  soul 
he  laid  upon  heaven  in  absolute  content  all  the  issues  of  his  life. 
Perchance  it  was  the  shade  of  the  wing  of  the  death  angel  be 
tween  him  and  the  sun— that  sun  before  whose  second  return  he 
was  to  be  smitten;  smitten  to  the  death  by  those  who  would 
have  rather  thrust  their  hands,  like  Cains  Mucius,  into  fiercest 
flames  than  willingly  have  wounded  a  button  on  his  faded  coat. 

It  was  our  immortal  infantryman — who  emulated  with  his  foot 
soldiers  the  swift  surprises  of  the  trooper;  who  deployed  artillery 
like  skirmishers. 

When  next  I  saw  him,  not  many  days  thereafter,  our  hero 
lay  in  yonder  capitol,  cold,  coffined  and  dead.  About  his  bier 
bronzed  and  maimed  men,  who  had  faced  a  hundred  deaths  with 
out  a  quickening  pulse,  stood  weeping — weeping  with  passionate 
tempest  of  grief,  as  women  weep  over  their  first  born,  when  the 
sweet  eyes,  brighter  to  them  than  evening  stars,  arc  glazing,  and 
the  loved  prattle  to  which  the  songs  of  the  Seraphs  were  in  their 
ears  discord,  is  only  a  faint,  fading,  far-off  echo. 


MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

He  had  passed  over  the  river.     He  had  met  "the  last  enemy." 
He  was  dead! 

"Dead,  with  his  harness  on  him, 

Rigid  and  cold  and  white ; 
Marking  the  place  of  the  vanguard 
Still  in  the  ancient  fight. 

"Dead,  but  the  end  was  fitting, 
First  in  the  ranks  he  led  "— 

Ah,  what  sad  prophecy  in  the  lines  which  follow,  as  we  re 
member  how  our  fortunes  waned  after  Chancellorsville ! — 

•'Dead,  but  the  end  was  fitting, 

First  in  the  ranks  he  led, 

And  he  marked  the  height  of  his  nation's  gain, 
As  he  lay  in  his  harness— dead  ! " 


NINTH  ANNUAL  REUNION. 


The  Hall  of  the  House  of  Delegates  was  packed  to  its  utmost 
capacity  on  Wednesday  evening,  October  the  29th,  18/9,  as  com 
rades  gathered  to  rekindle  the  "camp  fires  of  the  boys  in  gray." 

In  the  absence  of  both  the  President  and  the  Vice-Presidents, 
General  Early  presided. 

Rev.  Dr.  McKim,  of  New  York  (formerly  of  the  staff  of  Gen 
eral  George  H.  Stcuart),  led  in  a  most  appropriate  prayer. 

General  Early  presented  a  feeling  and  appropriate  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  General  John  B.  Hood,  which  was  unanimously 
adopted,  and  ordered  to  be  spread  on  the  record. 

General  Fitz.  Eec  was  then  introduced,  and  was  greeted  with 
loud  applause,  frequently  repeated,  as  he  delivered  the  following 
address : 

ADDRESS  OE  GEXERAE  EITZIIUGH   LEE. 

J/A*.  President,  Comrades,  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — The 
musical  echoes  of  the  horn  of  the  Alpine  Chief,  winding  from 
highest  mountain  top  to  lowermost  valley,  were  as  sacred  in  the 
ears  of  his  followers  as  the  mystic  fire  which  burned  in  the  tem 
ple  of  the  Virgins  of  Vesta,  and  its  blast  drew  every  man  from 
his  wife,  his  sweetheart  and  his  fireside.  So  an  invitation  to 
speak  to  this  Association  of  the  historic  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  should  sound  upon  the  ear  of  the  Confederate  soldier  as  a 
mandate  from  a  band  of  brothers,  chained  to  him  by  the  loving 
links  of  a  mighty  past,  and  whose  future  is  indissolubly  wrapped 
up  with  his  in  one  common  destiny — for  all  time,  for  sunshine 
and  for  storms;  irresistibly  drawing  him  from  all  other  obliga 
tions,  it  brings  him,  however  unworthy,  before  you  to-night,  to 
discharge  the  duty  assigned  him  by  your  partiality. 

At  your  bidding,  fellow  soldiers,  I  strike  the  strings  of  the 
harp  of  Auld  Lang  Syne,  whose  notes  now  are  chords  of  peace, 
while  picturing,  with  poor  brush,  the  camp  fires  of  war.  The 
ruddy  glow  will  light  up  familiar  scenes  to  you,  because  once 
again  in  imagination  you  will  see  the  fiery  hoof  of  battle  plunged 
into  the  red  earth  of  Virginia's  soil.  I  approach  it,  as'  was  said 
by  the  sage  of  Mohticello,  in  his  famous  inaugural,  "with  those 
anxious  and  awful  presentiments  which  the  greatness  of  the 


294  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

charge  and  the  weakness  of  my  powers  so  justly  inspire,  and  I 
humble  myself  before  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking." 

Soldiers,  your  Committee  requested  that  I  should  present  to 
your  consideration  a  field  of  conflict  which  brings  before  the 
military  student  as  high  a  type  of  an  offensive  battle  as  ever 
adorned  the  pages  of  history.  The  military  wisdom  of  those 
directing  the  tactical  and  strategical  manoeuvres  upon  the  Con 
federate  side,  was  equaled  only  by  the  valor  of  the  troops 
entrusted  with  the  execution.  Aye,  the  heart  of  the  Southron 
of  to-day  will  beat  with  lofty  pride,  his  cheek  will  mantle  with 
crimson  consciousness,  and  the  eyes  of  his  children's  children, 
yet  unborn,  will  flash  with  inherited  fire,  as  is  seen  the  splendid 
laurel  wreath  which  fame  hangs  upon  the  Confederate  colors, 
fluttering  so  victoriously  to  the  breeze  in  those  early  days  of 
May,  1863,  when  the  "stem  of  the  willow  shoots  out  a  green 
feather,  and  buttercups  burn  in  the  grass." 

For  giants  were  wrestling  there,  for  victory  upon  the  gory 
ground  of  Chancellorsville.  To  understand  clearly  the  combi 
nation  which  resulted  in  this  success  to  the  Confederate  arms,  go 
over  writh  me,  as  briefly  as  possible,  the  immediate  preceding 
events. 

When  the  sun  of  September  i^th,  1862,  with  the  mellow  splen 
dor  of  autumn,  had  gone  down  beneath  the  horizon,  thirty-five 
thousand  Southern  soldiers,  living  and  dead,  slept  upon  the  field 
of  Sharpsburg — some  waiting  for  to-morrow's  'conflict,  others 
resting  where  they  wearied,  and  lying  where  they  fell.  They 
had  successfully  withstood  the  assaults  of  the  Federal  army,  num 
bering  in  action,  according  to  McClellan's  report,  eigthy-seven 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-four.  On  the  iQth  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  recrossed  the  Potomac,  and  for  weeks  its 
encampments  whitened  the  charming  region  of  the  lower  Valley. 
Nineteen  days  after  the  battle,  Mr.  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  ordered  McClellan  to  cross  the  Potomac  and  give 
battle  to  the  enemy  or  drive  them  south.  On  the  loth  October, 
four  days  after  the  date  of  that  order,  the  dashing  commander 
of  the  Confederate  horse,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  led  his  cavalry  back 
into  Maryland,  and  riding  around  both  flanks  and  rear,  made  a 
complete  circuit  of  McClellan's  army — possibly  to  inquire  why 
Lincoln's  orders  were  not  obeyed. 

McClellan  reported^Stuart's  march.  Halleck,  then  Commander- 
in-Chief  at  Washington,  replies  to  him:  "The  President  has  read 
your  telegram,  and  directs  me  to  suggest  that  if  the  enemy  had 
more  occupation  south  of  the  river,  his  cavalry  would  not  be 
likely  to  make  raids  north  of  it."  On  the  25th  October,  McClel 
lan  telegraphs  that  his  "horses  are  broken  down  from  fatigue  and 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  295 

want  of  flesh."     Lincoln  rejoins  :  "Will  you  pardon  me  for  ask 
ing  what  the  horses  of  your  army  have  done  since  the  battle  of 
Antietam  that  fatigues  anything?     Stuart's  cavalry  outmarched 
ours,  having  certainly  done  more  marked  service  in  the  Peninsula 
and  everywhere  since."     On  the  3d  of  November,  twenty  days 
after  he  had  been  ordered,  McClellan  finished  crossing  his  army 
over  the   Potomac — not  in  General   Lee's  front,  but  in  Loudoun 
county — carefully  interposing  the  burly  Blue   Ridge  between  it 
and  the  Army  of  Northern   Virginia,  and  securely  holding  the 
passes.      Leaving   Jackson    in    the    lower  Valley,  General    Lee 
quietly  moved  Longstreet  and  the  cavalry  up  the  Valley,  and 
crossing  them  at  passes  south  of  those  held  by  McClellan,  moved 
into   Culpeper   county,  so   that  when   the   Federal    commander 
reached  Fauquier  county  the  Rappahannock  rolled  once  more 
peacefully  between  them.     On  the  7th  of  November,  McClellan 
telegraphs:  "I  am  now  concentrating  my  troops  in  the  direction 
of  Warrenton."     An  order  prepared  two  days   before  relieved 
him  from  the  command  of  his  army.     The  storm  of  official  dis 
pleasure  which  had  been  growing  deeper  and  blacker,  had  burst 
at  last  above  the  head  of  the  young   Napoleon,  and  the  fury  of 
the  gale  was  destined  to  sweep  him,  who  was  once  the  idol  of 
the  army  and  the  people,  from  further  participation  in  the  strug 
gle.    To-day  the  tempest  tossed  winds  are  quiet  beneath  the  rays 
of  the  sun  of  peace,  and  as  its  Governor, .  McClellan's  command 
is  the  State  of  New  Jersey.     Burnside  was  his  successor.     He 
decided  to  make  a  rapid  march  of  his  whole  force  upon   Frecle- 
ricksburg,  making  that  the  base  of  his  operations,  with  Richmond 
as  the  objective  point.     On  the  i/th  of  November  his  advance, 
Sumner's  column,  thirty-three  thousand  strong,  arrived  in  front 
of  Fredericksburg.      Had  his  pontoons   arrived,   Burnside   says, 
"Sumner  would  have  crossed  at  once  over  a  bridge  in  front  of  a 
city  filled  with  families  of  Rebel  officers  and  sympathizers  of  the 
Rebel  cause,  and  garrisoned  by  a  small  squadron  of  cavalry  and 
a  battery  of  artillery." 

On  the  1 5th  General  Lee  learned  that  transports  and  gunboats 
had  arrived  at  Acquia  creek.  On  the  i8th  Stuart,  forcing  his 
way  across  the  Rappahannock  at  the  Fauquier  While  Sulphur 
Springs,  in  the  face  of  cavalry  and  artillery,  made  a  reconnois- 
sance  as  far  as  Warrenton,  reaching  there  just  after  the  rear  of 
the  Federal  column  had  left.  His  report  satisfied  General  Lee 
that  the  whole  Federal  army  had  gone  to  Fredericksburg.  He 
had  previously  been  informed  as  to  Sumner's  march.  McLaws' 
and  Ransom's  divisions,  accompanied  by  Lane's  battery  of  artil 
lery  and  W.  H.  F.  Lee's  brigade  of  cavalry,  were  at  once  put  in 
motion  for  that  place,  and  the  whole  of  Longstreet's  corps  fol- 


296  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 


lowed  on  the  iQth.  On  the  2ist  Sumner  summoned  the  town 
to  surrender  under  a  threat  of  cannonading  it  the  next  day.  To 
this  General  Lee  replied  that  the  "  Confederate  forces  would  not 
use  the  place  for  military  purposes,  but  its  occupation  by  the 
enemy  would  be  resisted,"  and  directions  were  given  for  the  re 
moval  of  the  women  and  children  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The 
threatened  bombardment  did  not  take  place;  but  in  view  of  the 
imminence  of  a  collision  between  the  two  armies,  the  inhabitants 
were  advised  to  leave  the  city,  and  almost  the  entire  population, 
without  a  murmur,  abandoned  their  houses.  "  History  presents 
no  instance  of  a  people  exhibiting  a  purer  and  more  unselfish 
patriotism,  or  a  higher  spirit  of  fortitude  and  courage,  than  was 
evinced  by  the  citizens  of  Fredericksburg.  They  cheerfully  in 
curred  great  hardships  and  privations,  and  surrendered  their 
homes  and  property  to  destruction  rather  than  yield  them  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy  of  their  country." 

While  the  poisoned  cup  was  not  passed  around  as  at  Capua 
before  its  inhabitants  surrendered  to  Fulvius,  they  pledged  their 
fortunes,  their  families  and  their  household  goods  to  the  cause 
with  the  faith  which  characterized  the  Romans  when  they  put 
up  for  sale  the  ground  occupied  by  Hannibal's  camps  during  his 
siege  of  the  city,  and  it  was  bought  at  a  price  not  at  all  beldw  its 
value.  The  law  passed  at  the  instance  of  the  Tribune  Oppius 
forbade,  in  the  dark  days  of  Rome,  any  woman  from  wearing  a 
gay  colored  dress,  and  that  none  should  approach  nearer  than  a 
mile  of  any  city  or  town  in  a  car  drawn  by  horses,  because  the 
public  need  was  so  urgent  that  private  expenses  must  be  restrained 
by  law  so  as  to  give  more  for  defence.  The  women  of  Frede 
ricksburg,  equally  as  patriotic,  obeyed  "without  a  murmur,"  and 
bore  their  proportion  of  the  burdens  of  the  hour,  for  the  con 
firmation  of  which  they  have  the  recorded  words  of  Robert  E. 
Lee.  On  the  22d  of  November,  one  day  after  the  demand  for 
the  surrender  of  Fredericksburg,  Stonewall  Jackson  began  his 
march  from  Winchester,  and  in  eight  days  transferred  his  corps, 
with  an  interval  of  two  days'  rest,  to  the  vicinity  of  Fredericks 
burg  (Dabney,  page  594). 

The  first  of  December  found  the  Confederate  army  united.  It 
was  Burnside's  intention  to  cross  the  Rappahannock  at  once  upon 
the  arrival  of  his  army,  but  the  delay  in  receiving  his  pontoons 
prevented  the  movement  —  they  did  not  reach  him  until  the  22d 
or  23d  of  November.  Could  he  have  done  so,  Longstreet's  corps 
only  would  have  been  in  his  front,  as  Jackson  did  not  arrive 
until  the  3Oth.  It  is  certain,  however,  he  would  have  encountered 
the  united  Confederate  army  somewhere,  for  General  Lee  was 
the  commander  of  its  detached  parts.  While  the  two'armies  are 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    F1TZHUGH    LEE. 

putting  on  the  war  paint,  go  with  me  to  the  spot  where  once 
stood  the  Philips'  house.  This  elevated  site  was  on  the  second 
and  highest  elevation  from  the  river  on  the  Stafford  side,  and 
was  selected  by  Burnside  for  his  headquarters  during  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg.  A  magnificient  view  of  all  the  surrounding 
country  might  here  be  seen  through  the  field-glasses  of  the  Federal 
commander. 

Decending  the  hill  from  the  Philips'  house  en  route  to  the 
river  we  reach  the  Richmond,  Fredericksburg  and  Potomac  rail 
road,  which,  crossing  the  river  by  bridge,  first  curves  westward 

o  J  o 

before  taking  its  northeasterly. course  to  Acquia  creek;  then  we 
come  to  a  bottom  through  which  flows  a  small  stream;  then  we 
ascend  the  elevated  table-land  comprising  the  Lacy  farm,  and  cross 
ing  it  reach  the  Lacy  house,  Simmer's  headquarters,  and  which  is 
directly  opposite  Fredericksburg  and  on  the  hill  above  the  river. 
The  Rappahannock,  drawing  its  source  from  the  Blue  Ridge 
mountains,  drains  the  counties  of  Fauquier,  Rappahannock  and 
Culpeper,  while  the  Rapidan,  its  twin  sister,  flowing  through 
Madison,  Greene  and  Orange,  unites  with  it  some  twelve  miles 
above  Fredericksburg.  From  that  point  the  river  tranquilly 
meanders  through  a  beautiful  country  until,  passing  between 
the  counties  of  Lancaster  and  Middlesex,  it  is  lost  in  the  waters 
of  the  Chesapeake  bay.  It  is  navigable  for  steamboats  and 
small  sailing  vessels  ninety-two  miles  from  its  mouth  to  Frede 
ricksburg,  the  head  of  navigation. 

There  are  two  fords  between  the  city  and  the  junction  of  the 
Rapidan.  Three  miles  above  by  the  Spotsylvania  side,  or  six  by 
the  Stafford  side,  is  Banks'  ford,  and  above  that  is  the  United 
States,  or  Mine,  or  Bark  Mill  ford.  On  the  Rappahannock,  above 
the  union  of  the  two  streams,  comes  first  Richards'  ford,  then 
Kelly's,  which  is  some  thirty  miles  from  a  point  in  Stafford  op 
posite  Fredericksburg.  This  well-known  ford  unites  Morrisvillc 
and  adjacent  country  in  Fauquier  to  Culpeper.  On  the  Rapidan 
above  the  junction,  we  have  first  Fly's  ford,  then  the  Germanna, 
then  Mitchell's,  Morton's,  Raccoon,  Summerville,  Rapidan  station 
or  railroad  bridge,  where  the  Midland  road  crosses  the  Rapidan; 
all  of  which  put  the  people  of  Culpeper  and  Orange  in  commu 
nication  with  each  other.  Above  Fredericksburg  the  hills  close 
in  abruptly  on  the  river,  and  continue  more  or  less  so  all  along 
the  left  or  Stafford  bank.  On  the  right  bank,  beginning  at  Tay 
lor's,  above  Fredericksburg,  the  hills,  at  first  curving  off  from  the 
river  gradually,  return  in  that  direction,  until,  at  the  distance  of 
some  four  and  a  half  miles  from  Fredericksburg,  they  gently 
decline  into  a  series  of  soft  waves  of  land,  which  terminate  at  the 
valley  of  Massaponnax.  The  rim  of  highland  thus  described, 

20 


298  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

which  begins  at  Taylor's  and  ends  near  Hamilton's  crossing,  is 
the  shape  of  a  half  of  a  vast  ellipse. 

At  a  point  opposite  to  the  town  it  detaches  from  its  front,  as  it 
were,  an  elevated  plain.  On  the  edge  of  this  plain,  nearest  to 
Fredericksburg,  is  the  famous  Marye  house  and  hill,  and  at  its 
base  runs  the  stone  wall,  apparently  built  to  hold  the  parapet  of 
made  earth  and  prevent  its  being  washed  away.  The  convex 
side  of  this  encircling  rim  of  highland  and  the  river  inclose  the 
plains  of  Fredericksburg — an  extensive  piece  of  table-land  two 
and  one-half  miles  across  its  greatest  diameter.  Hazel  run, 
breaking  between  Marye's  hill  and  Lee's  hill  (the  latter  so  called 
because  occupied  by  General  Lee  during  the  battle  of  Frede 
ricksburg  as  headquarters),  crosses  the  plains  in  its  northerly 
course  to  the  river.  The  Narrow  Gauge  railroad  to  Orange 
Courthouse  and  the  Telegraph  road  to  Spotsylvania  Courthouse, 
twelve  miles  away  to  the  south,  take  advantage  of  this  opening 
to  get  through  the  hills.  Lower  down,  Deep  run  crosses  the 
flats  at  its  widest  part,  having  drawn  its  source  from  the  high 
lands  ;  and  still  lower,  beyond  Hamilton's,  flows  into  the  river  a 
bolder  stream  than  the  other  two,  called  the  Massaponnax.  On 
the  eastern  or  lower  side  of  the  town  bebouches  the  River  or 
Port  Royal  road,  running  parallel  to  the  river.  This  road  runs 
between  earthen  banks  some  three  feet  high,  on  which  had  been 
planted  hedge  rows  of  trees,  principally  cedar,  whose  roots  held 
the  ground  firmly,  making  a  low  double  rank  of  natural  fortifi 
cations,  some  four  and  a  half  miles  long,  and  affording  an  excel 
lent  place  to  align  troops. 

The  railroad  from  Fredericksburg  to  Richmond,  sixty-one 
miles  distant,  crosses  this  plain  transversely,  running  easterly 
until  it  reaches  the  hills  at  Hamilton's,  around  whose  base  it 
curves  upon  its  southerly  course.  From  the  side  of  the  town 
next  to  Marye's  hill  proceeds  the  Old  turnpike  and  the  Plank 
road.  At  the  limits  of  the  town  they  are  merged  into  one,  which 
crosses  Marye's  hill  some  fifty  yards  north  of  the  house,  runs 
south  to  Salem  church,  six  miles,  where  they  separate — the  Old 
turnpike  being  the  right  hand  or  more  northern  road.  At  Chan- 
cellorsville,  twelve  miles  from  Fredericksburg,  they  unite  and 
continue  the  same  road  until  Wilderness  church  is  reached  be 
yond,  when  they  again  separate,  the  Plank  road  running  as  before 
to  the  south.  The  Wilderness  tavern  is  some  miles  further  on 
towards  Orange  Courthouse  on  the  Old  turnpike,  and  some 
miles  further  on  this  road  is  crossed  by  Wilderness  run,  and  here 
comes  in  the  road  from  Germanna  ford,  on  the  Rapidan.  The 
direct  road  from  Kelly's  ford  on  the  Rappahannock  to  Chan- 
cellorsville  crosses  the  Rapidan  at  Ely's  ford. 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  299 

By  keeping  this  imperfect  topographical  description  in  view, 
it  will  facilitate  a  better  understanding  of  the  strategical  and 
tactical  operations  of  the  opposing  armies;  for  participation  in 
battles,  unless  as  a  commander  of  rank,  will  give  but  little  know 
ledge  of  localities,  such  knowledge  being  in  inverse  ratio  to  the 
closcnes  of  your  discharge  of  military  duties. 

Before  dawn  on  the  nth  of  December  the  Confederate  signal 
gun  announced  that  Burnside's  army  was  in  motion.  Two  days 
and  two  nights  were  consumed  in  getting  the  Federal  soldiers 
over  a  river  three  hundred  yards  wide,  spanned  by  four  pontoon 
bridges,  the  laying  down  of  which  was  resisted  by  the  Thirteenth, 
Seventeenth,  Eighteenth  and  Twenty-first  Mississippi  regiments, 
comprising  Barksdale's  splendid  brigade  of  McLaws'  division, 
and  the  Third  Georgia  and  Eighth  Elorida  of  R.  H.  Anderson's 
division.  With  these  six  small  regiments,  Barksdale  held  the 
Federal  army  at  the  river  bank  for  sixteen  hours,  giving  the  Con 
federate  commander  ample  time  to  prepare  for  battle  (Eongstreet's 
report). 

The  Federal  army  was  divided  into  three  grand  divisions,  the 
right  under  Sunnier,  the  centre  under  Hooker,  the  left  under 
Franklin.  Sixty  thousand  troops  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
cannon  were  under  Franklin,  opposing  our  right  near  Hamilton's 
crossing;  he  having  Burns'  division  from  the  Ninth  corps,  of 
Simmer's  command,  and  two  divisions  of  Stoneman's  corps,  of 
Hooker's.  Sumner  had  about  twenty-seven  thousand  of  his  own 
and  about  twenty-six  thousand  of  Hooker's  troops,  with  one 
hundred  and  four  cannon  (Hunt's  report),  attacking  our  right  at 
Marye's  hill — making  a  grand  total  that  Burnside  had  of  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  thousand  (his  report);  he  had  also  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  heavy  guns  in  reserve.  Burnside  lost  in 
killed,  wounded  and  missing  twelve  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty-three  (his  report),  and  failing  to  dislodge  the  Confederate 
army,  recrossed  the  river.  The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was 
divided  into  two  corps,  under  Longstreet  and  Jackson.  The 
official  returns  on  the  loth  of  December,  1862,  one  day  before 
Burnside's  advance,  showed  present  for  duty  seventy-eight  thou 
sand  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  (Walter  Taylor's  Four  Years 
with  Lee).  Jackson's  corps  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing 
three  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifteen  (his  report).  Long- 
street's  loss  was  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninty-four  (his 
report) — making  a  total  of  five  thousand  three  hundred  and  nine. 

The  battle  of  Fredericksburg  was  a  grand  sight  as  Lee  wit 
nessed  it  from  the  centre  of  his  lines  on  that  memorable  1 3th  of 
December,  and  Burnside  through  his  field-glasses,  from  a  more 
secure  position  two  miles  in  rear  of  the  battlefield,  at  the  Philips* 


3OO  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

house,  with  the  river  flowing  between  himself  and  his  troops. 
As  the  fog  lifted,  it  was  like  some  grand  drama  disclosed  by  the 
curtain  rolling  up.  The  plain  of  Fredericksburg  resembled  the 
"field  of  the  cloth  of  gold,"  where — 

"The  gilded  parapets  wore  crowned  with  faces, 
And  the  great  tower  tilled  with  eyes  up  to  the  summit, 
To  rain  influence  and  to  judge  the  prize." 

The  roar  of  three  hundred  cannon  (the  Federals  alone  had  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  in  their  army)  formed  the  orchestra, 
the  city  of  Fredericksburg  their  audience. 

"  [lark  !  as  those  smouldering  piles  with  thunder  fall, 
A  thousand  shrieks  for  hopeless  mercy  call. 
Earth  shook,  red  meteors  flashed  along  the  sky, 
And  conscious  nature  shuddered  at  the  cry." 

As  I  stood  at  one  time  during  the  day  on  Hood's  lines  and 
saw  this  gorgeous  military  pageant  beneath  me — over  one  hun 
dred  thousand  men  in  line  of  battle,  a  line  of  blue  with  bristling 
bayonets,  both  of  whose  flanks  were  visible — it  was  the  grandest 
sight  my  eyes  ever  rested  upon;  and  in  history  I  cannot  recall 
its  parallel.  The  Federal  plan  of  battle  was  defective,  so  far  as 
trying  to  force  General  Lee's  left,  for  that  was  impregnable. 
Were  it  possible  to  have  carried  Marye's  hill,  no  Federal  force 
could  have  lived  there,  for  a  concentrated  converging  fire  from 
the  heights  in  rear  which  commanded  it,  and  of  which  Marye's 
was  simply  an  outpost,  would  have  swept  them  from  its  face. 
Holding  fast  with  a  small  force  in  Fredericksburg,  protected  by 
reserve  artillery  in  Stafford,  and  reinforcing  Franklin  with  the 
bulk  of  Sumner,  and  Hooker  swinging  around  by  his  left,  to 
have  threatened  the  Confederate  line  of  communication,  would 
have  drawn  General  Lee  away  from  Marye's  and  forced  a  battle 
on  more  equal  terms  as  to  position. 

The  popular  notion  that  General  Jackson  wanted  to  move 
down  on  the  Federals  after  their  repulse  and  drive  them  into  the 
Rappahannock,  is  disposed  of  by  his  own  report,  in  which  he 
says:  "The  enemy  making  no  forward  movement,  I  determined, 
if  prudent,  to  do  so  myself;  but  the  first  gun  had  hardly  moved 
from  the  wood  a  hundred  yards  when  the  enemy's  artillery  re 
opened,  and  so  completely  swept  our  front  as  to  satisfy  me  that 
the  projected  movement  should  be  abandoned."  With  the  Fede 
ral  defeat  all  was  quiet  along  the  Rappahannock,  both  armies 
"seeking  the  seclusion  that  a  cabin  grants"  in  winter  quarters. 
Two  more  attempts  were  made  to  cross  the  army  over  the  river 
by  General  Burnside,  one  at  a  point  opposite  Seddon's  house, 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  30 1 

some  six  or  seven  miles  below  Fredericksburg,  which  President 
Lincoln  stopped,  because,  as  he  said,  no  prominent  officer  in  the 
command  had  any  faith  in  it;  and  later  a  second  attempt  was 
made  to  cross  above  Falmouth.  This  movement  was  intended 
to  flank  Marye's  hill  by  reaching  the  Plank  road  towards  Salem 
church  and  beyond  it.  A  glance  at  the  topography  of  the 
country  and  the  position  of  the  Confederate  army  will  show  that 
such  strategy  possessed  none  of  the  elements  of  success.  On 
the  25th  of  January,  an  order  from  the  War  Department  relieved 
Generals  Burnside,  Sumner  and  Franklin,  his  right  and  left 
grand  division  commanders,  from  duty,  and  placed  Major-General 
H.ooker  in  command  of  the  army.  They  were  removed,  the 
order  states,  at  their  own  request;  but  Burnside  (Report  of  Com 
mittee  on  Conduct  of  War,  page  721)  says  the  order  did  not  ex 
press  the  facts  in  the  case  as  far  as  he  was  concerned.  The  day 
after  Hooker  was  placed  in  command,  he  read  the  following 
letter  from  Mr.  Lincoln: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  2G,  1SG3. 
Major-General  Hooker : 

General — I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of  the  arm}-  of 
the  Potomac.  Of  course  I  have  done  this  upon  what  appears  to 
me  to  be  sufficient  reasons.  And  yet  I  think  it  best  for  you  to 
know  that  there  are  some  things  in  regard  to  which  I  am  not 
quite  satisfied  with  you.  I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave  and  skillful 
soldier,  which,  of  course,  I  like.  I  also  believe  you  do  not  mix 
politics  with  your  profession,  in  which  you  are  right.  You  have 
confidence  in  yourself,  which  is  a  valuable  if  not  an  indispensable 
quality.  You  are  ambitious,  which,  within  reasonable  bounds, 
docs  good  rather  than  harm.  But  I  think  that  during  General 
Burnside's  command  of  the  army  you  have  taken  counsel  of  your 
ambition  and  thwarted  him  as  much  as  you  could,  in  which  you 
did  a  great  wrong  both  to  the  country  and  to  a  most  meritorious 
and  honorable  brother  officer.  I  have  heard  in  such  way  as  to 
believe  it  of  your  recently  saying  that  both  the  army  and  the 
Government  needed  a  dictator.  Of  course  it  was  not  for  this, 
but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have  given  you  the  command.  Only 
those  generals  who  gain  successes  can  set  up  as  dictators.  What 
I  now  ask  of  you  is  military  success,  and  I  will  risk  the  dictator 
ship.  The  Government  will  support  you  to  the  utmost  of  its 
ability,  which  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will 
do  for  all  commanders.  I  much  fear  the  spirit  you  have  aided 
to  infuse  into  the  army  of  criticising  their  commander  and  with 
holding  confidence  from  him,  will  now  turn  upon  you.  I  shall 


3O2  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

assist  you  as  far  as  I  can  to  put  it  down.  Neither  you  nor  Napo 
leon,  if  he  were  alive  again,  could  get  any  good  out  of  an  army 
while  such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it.  And  now,  beware  of  rashness ! 
beware  of  rashness !  but  with  energy  and  sleepless  vigilance,  go 
forward  and  give  us  victories. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

The  same  day,  in  General  Order  No.  I,  Hooker  assumed  com 
mand,  saying,  among  other  things,  "in  equipment,  intelligence 
and  valor,  the  enemy  is  our  inferior.  Let  us  never  hesitate  to 
give  him  battle  wherever  we  can  find  him."  Considering  his 
enemy  was  in  full  view  and  there  was  no  difficulty  in  finding 
him,  his  not  attacking  for  over  three  months  \vas  a  slight 
hesitation.  Was  it  owing  to  their  being  inferior  in  equipment, 
in  intelligence  and  valor?  An  interval  of  quiet  now  intervened, 
which  was  devoted  to  placing  both  armies  in  the  best  possible 
condition.  Officers  and  privates  amused  themselves  as  best  they 
could  in  passing  the  winter  away.  In  the  Second  Federal  corps, 
for  instance,  we  are  told  by  its  commander  that  the  "higher 
officers  spend  their  time  in  reading  newspapers  or  books,  play 
ing  cards,  or  the  politician,  drinking  whiskey  and  grumbling.  Of 
course"  (he  says)  "this  charge  does  not  include  all  by  a  long 
way,  for  it  (viz:  the  corps)  contains  some  of  the  finest  officers 
that  ever  drew  sword,  from  Major-General  down";  and  then  signs 
it  D.  N.  Couch,*  Major-General  commanding.  The  monotony 
was  occasionally  relieved  by  cavalry  reconnoissances,  skirmishes 
and  encounters. 

One  of  these  I  shall  mention  briefly,  because  it  was  the  hardest 
contested  purely  cavalry  fight  I  participated  in  during  the  war, 
and  because  in  it  a  young,  rising  and  already  celebrated  artille 
rist  closed  a  short  but  brilliant  career. 

In  a  dispatch  to  Halleck,  Commander-in-Chief,  dated  March 
i6th,  6.30  P.  M.,  Hooker  says:  "This  morning  I  dispatched  three 
thousand  cavalry  to  attack  and  break  up  the  cavalry  camp  of 
Fitzhugh  Lee  and  Hampton  in  the  vicinity  of  Culpeper"  (page 
799,  Military  Reports  of  Rebellion).  Next,  Butterfield,  Chief  of 
Staff  to  Hooker,  ir!  a  dispatch  to  General  Reynolds,  of  the  First 
corps,  gives  the  result:  "I  send  you  the  following  synopsis  of 
Averell's  affair.  Captain  Moore,  of  General  Hooker's  staff,  who 
accompanied  him,  reports  it  as  a  brilliant  and  splendid  fight — the 
best  cavalry  fight  of  the  war — lasting  five  hours;  charging  and 
recharging  on  both  sides;  our  men  using  their  sabres  hand 
somely,  and  with  effect,  driving  the  enemy  three  miles  into  cover 

"Letter  to  Seth  Williams.— Page  776,  Military  Record  of  Rebellion. 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  303 

of  earthworks  and  heavy  guns.  Forces  about  equal."  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War,  then  telegraphs  to  Hooker:  "I  congratulate 
you  upon  the  success  of  General  Averell's  expedition.  It  is 
good  for  the  first  lick.  You  have  drawn  the  first  blood,  and  I 
hope  now  soon  to  see  the  boys  up  and  at  them."  It  was  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  who  said  "that  human  testimony  was  so  unreli 
able  that  no  two  men  could  see  the  same  occurrence  and  give  the 
same  report  of  it."  The  official  reports  of  Stuart  and  Fitzhugh 
Lee,  written  at  the  same  time,  tell  us  that  the  fighting  at  Kelleys- 
ville,  was  done  alone  by  a  portion  of  Fitzhugh  Lee's  brigade, 
without  any  other  support  being  nearer  to  them  than  the  main 
army  at  Fredericksburg,  and  that  Averell  was  driven  back  across 
the  river  defeated.  The  absence  of  four  squadrons  on  detached 
duty,  and  the  detail  of  a  large  part  of  the  command  to  go  to 
their  homes  for  fresh  horses  for  the  spring  campaign,  reduced 
the  five  regiments  engaged  to  a  total  of  less  than  eight  hundred 
men  in  the  saddle.  The  aggregate  loss  in  men  being  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three,  in  horses  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
three;  the  latter  is  mentioned,  because  the  ratio  of  horses 
killed  to  those  wounded  exceeded  that  of  any  cavalry  engage 
ment  known  to  me.  There  were  seventy-one  horses  killed,  and 
eighty-seven  wounded,  which,  with  twelve  captured  on  picket, 
would  make  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-three.  This  fact  shows 
the  closeness  of  the  contending  forces.  Stuart  and  Pelham,  his 
Chief  of  Artillery,  were  accidentally  at  Culpeper  Courthouse  in 
attendance  on  a  courtmartial  as  witnesses,  their  quarters  being 
in  rear  of  Fredericksburg.  Pelham  was  in  the  act  of  getting  on 
the  cars  to  return  to  his  camp,  when,  hearing  there  was  a  pros 
pect  of  a  fight,  he  borrowed  a  horse,  and  Stuart  and  himself  joined 
me  on  the  field,  though  the  former  did  not  assume  command. 
Yes !  Pelham  fell  at  Kelleysville — a  blue-eyed,  light-haired  boy, 
a  graduate  of  West  Point  of  the  class  of  1861,  and  an  officer  of 
superb  courage  and  dash.  A  noble  young  Alabamian,  immor 
talized  by  Jackson  saying,  in  substance,  of  his  behavior  in  com 
mand  of  the  guns  on  the  left  at  Sharpsburg,  that  an  army  should 
have  a  Pelham  on  each  flank.  At  Fredericksburg,  General  Lee 
calls  him,  in  his  official  report,  "the  gallant  Pelham,"  for  with 
two  guns,  away  out  on  the  plain  in  front  of  Hamilton's  crossing, 
he  enfiladed  the  advancing  Federal  lines  of  battle,  halted  and 
held  for  a  time  Doubleday's  division  of  the  attacking  column, 
sustaining,  as  General  Lee  says  (in  his  official  report),  the  fire  of 
four  batteries  "with  that  unflinching  courage  that  ever  distin 
guished  him."  An  old  farmer  in  Maryland,  looking  at  Pelham's 
beardless  face,  girlish  smile  and  slender  figure,  said  to  General 
Stuart,  "Can  these  boys  fight?"  Aye!  let  Lee  and  Jackson  tell. 


3O4  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

Let  Stuart's  general  orders,  March  3Oth,  1863,  speak:  "The 
Major-General  Commanding  approaches  with  reluctance  the 
painful  duty  of  announcing  to  the  division  its  irreparable  loss  in 
the  death  of  Major  John  Pelham,  commanding  the  horse  artil 
lery.  He  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Kelleysville, 
March  1 7th,  with  the  battle-cry  on  his  lips  and  the  light  of  vic 
tory  beaming  from  his  eye.  His  eye  glanced  on  every  battlefield 
of  this  army  from  the  first  Manassas  to  the  moment  of  his  death, 
and  he  was,  with  a  single  exception,  a  brilliant  actor  in  them  all. 
The  memory  of  the  gallant  Pelham,  his  many  virtues,  his  noble 
nature,  his  purity  of  character,  is  enshrined  as  a  sacred  legacy 
in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him."  Young  as  he  was,  "his 
mourners  were  two  hosts — his  friends  and  his  foes."  He  was 
worthy  to  have  his  sword  buried  along  side  of  him,  that  no  less 
worthy  hand  might  ever  wield  it;  an  honor  paid  to  chevalier 
Bayard  by  the  Spanish  General  in  Francis  the  First's  fatal  Italian 
campaign  against  Charles  the  Fifth.  Sleep  on,  gallant  Pelham, 
and  may  your  spirit  "look  through  the  vista  to  the  everlasting 
hills,  bathed  in  eternal  sunlight." 

Spring  had  now  arrived.  "A  thousand  pearly  drops,  thrown 
by  dewy  morning  into  the  valley's  lap,"  could  everywhere  be 
seen.  "And  pushing  the  soil  from  her  bonny  pink  shoulders,  the 
clover  glides  forth  to  the  world.  Fresh  mosses  gleam  in  the 
gray,  rugged  boulders,  with  delicate  May  dew  impcarled.  In 
the  aisles  of  the  orchard  fair  blossoms  are  drifting.  The  tulip's 
pale  stalk  from  the  garden  is  lifting  a  goblet  of  gems  to  the  sun." 
Hooker  must  move  now.  On  the  I  ith  of  April  he  tells  Lincoln 
that  he  "will  have  more  chance  of  inflicting  a  heavier  blow  upon 
the  enemy  by  turning  his  position  to  my  right,  and,  if  practicable, 
to  sever  his  connection  with  Richmond  with  my  dragoon  force 
and  such  light  batteries  as  maybe  deemed  advisable  to  send  with 
them."  On  the  I3th  he  orders  his  cavalry  forward  to  cross  the 
upper  fords  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  swing  from  there  around 
to  Lee's  rear.  On  the  1 4th  they  appeared  and  made  a  dash  at 
Kelly's  ford;  but,  in  the  words  of  W.  H.  F.  Lee's  report,  "dashed 
back  again  from  the  fire  of  the  picket  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  under  Captain  Boiling,  Company  G,  Ninth  Virginia  cavalry." 
On  the  same  day  they  succeeded  in  crossing  at  Rappahannock 
station,  but  on  the  appearance  of  reinforcements,  recrossed.  On 
the  1 5th  they  crossed  at  Beverley's  and  Welford's  fords,  but  were 
driven  back  by  W.  H.  F.  Lee  with  Chambliss'  Thirteenth  Vir 
ginia  cavalry.  At  10.15  P.  M.  that  night,  Mr.  Lincoln  tele 
graphed  to  Hooker: 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  305 

"The  rain  and  mud  of  course  were  to  be  calculated  upon. 
General  Stoneman  is  not  moving  rapidly  enough  to  make  the 
expedition  come  to  anything.  He  has  now  been  out  three  days, 
two  of  which  were  unusually  fair  weather,  and  all  free  from  hin 
drance  from  the  enemy,  and  yet  he  is  not  twenty-five  miles  from 
where  he  started.  To  reach  his  point,  he  has  still  sixty  to  go. 
By  arithmetic,  how  many  days  will  it  take  him  to  do  it?  Write 
me  often.  I  am  very  anxious. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

Heavy  rains  stopped  Stoneman,  the  Federal  account  tells  us, 
and  he  was  directed  to  remain  on  Hooker's  right,  threatening  the 
upper  fords.  This  cavalry  force,  according  to  the  consolidated 
morning  report  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  for  April  3Oth,  1863, 
had  an  a<i<rre<iate  of  officers  and  men  of  thirteen  thousand  three 

o  o         o 

hundred  and  ninety-eight  present  for  duty.  His  Chief  Quarter 
master,  from  Stoneman's  new  position,  sent  a  return  to  army 
headquarters  for  rations  for  twelve  thousand  men  and  seventeen 
thousand  horses.  This  did  not  include  a  brigade  of  Pleasanton's 

o 

division  of  three  regiments  and  a  battery  under  that  officer  left 
behind  with  Hooker. 

The  Federal  army  at  this  time  consisted  of  seven  corps,  exclu 
sive  of  the  cavalry  corps,  viz:  First,  Reynolds;  Second,  Couch; 
Third, Sickles;  Fifth,  Meade;  Sixth, Sedgwick;  Eleventh,  Howard; 
and  Twelfth,  Slocum — with  three  divisions  to  the  corps,  except 
Slocum,  who  only  had  two,  making  twenty  divisions.  Stone 
man's  cavalry  corps  consisted  of  three  divisions,  under  Pleas- 
anton,  Buford  and  Averell.  General  Hunt,  as  Chief  of  Artillery, 
had  about  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  cannon.  The  Federal 
returns  of  April  3Oth,  before  mentioned,  gives,  under  the  head 
of  present  for  duty,  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  two  hun 
dred  and  sixty  enlisted  men;  an  aggregate  of  officers  and  men 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  eight  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  present  for  duty,  and  a  grand  aggregate  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety  present; 
and  under  the  head  of  present  for  duty  equipped,  there  "is  given 
only  those  who  are  actually  available  for  the  line  of  battle  at  the 
date  of  the  report."  We  find  a  total  of  officers  and  men  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eight. 

On  the  Confederate  side  the  force  operating  at  Chancellorsville 
consisted  of  AIcLaws'  and  Anderson's  divisions  of  Longstreet's 
corps  (Hood's  and  Pickett's  divisions  of  that  corps,  under  Long- 
street,  were  in  the  vicinty  of  Suffolk,  on  the  south  side  of  James 
river)  and  Jackson's  corps,  of  A.  P.  Hill's,  Early's,  D.  H.  Hill's 
under  Rodes,  and  Trimble's  under  Colston,  and  two  brigades  of 


306  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

cavalry  under  W.  H.  F.  Lee  and  Fitzhugh  Lee.  Hampton's 
brigade  was  absent,  having  been  sent  to  the  interior  to  recruit,, 
and  W.  E.  Jones  was  in  the  Valley.  Present,  then,  we  find  six 
infantry  divisions  or  twenty-eight  brigades,  and  the  cavalry  bri 
gades  of  nine  regiments.  The  official  return  of  the  'Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  nearest  to  the  battle  extant — viz:  3ist  March, 
1863 — shows  in  Anderson's  and  McLaws'  divisions,  fifteen  thou 
sand  six  hundred  and  forty-nine;  in  Jackson's  corps,  thirty-three 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty -three;  in  reserve  artillery,  six 
teen  hundred  and  twenty-one.  That  return  puts  the  cavalry  at 
six  thousand  five  hundred  and  nine.  My  brigade  numbered  about 
fifteen  hundred  (it  will  be  remembered  at  Kelleysville,  two  weeks 
before,  it  numbered  eight  hundred)  and  W.  H.  F.  Lee's  about 
twelve  hundred,  making  twenty-seven  hundred  cavalry;  and  the 
discrepancy  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Hampton's  and 
Jones'  brigades  were  included  in  the  return,  because,  though 
absent,  they  were  included  in  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia> 
and  their  returns  sent  to  the  Assistant  Adjutant  General  at  army 
headquarters. 

Add  fifteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  fourty-nine,  and  thirty- 
three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three,  and  sixteen  hun 
dred  and  twenty-one,  and  twenty-seven  hundred  together,  and 
you  have  present  at  Ghancellorsville  a  Confederate  total  of  fifty- 
three  thousand  three  hundred  and  three,  with  some  one  hundred 
and  seventy  pieces  of  artillery.  My  numbers  differ  from  Walter 
Taylor's  (fifty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  twelve)  by  three 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  nine,  which  is  the  difference  between, 
six  thousand  five  hundred  and  nine  cavalry  he  gives  and  twenty- 
seven  hundred,  about  the  actual  number  present.  Allan  makes 
our  force  out  fifty-eight  thousand  two  hundred.  Now  let  us  see 
what  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eight  fighting  men  in  blue  did  with  fifty-three  thousand  three 
hundred  and  three  "boys  in  gray." 

It  will  be  demonstrated  that  "the  finest  army  on  the  planet," 
as  Hooker  termed  it,  "was  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean  driven 
upon  the  beach  by  some  unseen  force,  and  whose  white  crests 
were  so  soon  broken  into  glittering  jewels  on  the  sand."  On 
the  2  ist  April,  Hooker  telegraphs  to  General  Peck,  who  at  Suf 
folk  was  growing  impatient,  hoping  to  be  relieved  from  the  pres 
sure  against  him  by  Hooker's  movements:  "You  must  be  patient 
with  me;  I  must  play  with  these  devils  before  I  can  spring."  On 
the  26th  April  orders  were  issued  for  the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth 
corps  to  march  at  sunrise  on  the  27th  for  Kelly's  ford,  and  to  be 
encamped  there  on  the  28th  by  4  P.  M.  Stoneman's  headquarters 
were  then  at  Warrenton  Junction.  On  the  2/th  April,  Lincoln,. 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  3O/ 

•who  knows  something  is  going  on,  telegraphs  at  3.30  P.  M., 
"How  does  it  look  now?"  Hooker  replies:  "I  am  not  suffi 
ciently  advanced  to  give  an  opinion."  On  the  2/th  an  order  was 
sent  to  Couch,  of  the  Second  corps,  to  move  two  of  his  divisions 
to  take  post  at  United  States  ford,  "the  movement  to  be  made 
quietly,  and  the  officers  and  men  to  be  restrained  from  exhibit 
ing  themselves."  Troops  to  have  eight  days'  rations.  Bridge 
not  to  be  laid  at  Banks'  ford  until  the  night  of  the  29th.  On 
the  2/th  the  Fifth  corps  (Meade's)  was  moved  to  Hartwood 
church,  and  on  the  28th  to  Kelly's  ford.  So  much  for  the  four 
corps  and  one  division  (Gibbon's)  that  were  moving  up  the  river 
to  cross  and  s\vin<r  around  on  the  Confederate  left  and  rear.  The 

t> 

remaining  three  corps — viz :  First,  Third  and  Sixth — were  ordered 
to  cross  the  river  below  Fredericksburg  at  the  mouth  of  Deep 
run,  "Franklin's  old  crossing,"  and  at  Pollock's  mill  creek — the 
First  and  Sixth  to  be  in  position  to  cross  on  or  before  3.30  A.  M. 
of  the  29th,  and  the  Third  on  or  before  4.30  A.  M.  of  same  day. 
These  three  corps  were  to  constitute  the  left  wing  of  the  army — 
were  to  hold  and  amuse  General  Lee  and  prevent  him  from 
observing  the  great  flank  movement  of  the  right  wing,  and  to 
pursue  him  when  manujuvred  out  of  his  entrenchments  by  the 
approaching  hosts  on  his  left-rear. 

The  aggregate  present  for  duty  on  3Oth  April,  1863,  in  the 
First  corps  was  seventeen  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty;  in 
Third,  seventeen  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine;  in  Sixth, 
twenty-two  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-five;  total,  fifty- 
seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  fourteen,  or  taking  those  actu 
ally  in  line  of  battle,  the  present  for  duty  equipped,  and  we  have 
First  corps,  fourteen  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight; 
Third,  sixteen  thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-one;  Sixth, 
twenty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty-two;  total,  fifty- 
two  thousand  four  hundred  and  one.  Hooker's  original  left  wing 
was  about  equal  in  numbers,  then,  to  General  Lee's  whole  army, 
and  his  right  wing,  or  marching  column,  of  four  infantry  corps 
and  one  cavalry  corps,  would  represent  his  numerical  advantage 
in  strength. 

On  the  3Oth  the  Third  corps  was  ordered  to  move  by  the 
shortest  road  on  Stafford  side  to  United  States  ford  and  Chan- 
cellorsville;  and  at  8  A.  M.  on  that  day,  Sedgwick  was  ordered 
to  make  a  demonstration  on  Hamilton's  crossing,  to  see  whether 
the  Confederates  still  hugged  their  defences.  On  same  day, 
Couch,  of  Second  corps,  was  ordered  to  cross  United  States  ford 
with  two  of  his  dvisions — the  third  (Gibbon's)  being  left  at  Fal- 
mouth.  On  the  night  of  the  28th,  Howard's  Eleventh  corps 
crossed  Kelly's  ford,  a  force  being  put  over  below  the  ford  in 


3O8  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

boats,  which  moved  up  and  took  possession  of  it.  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  29th  the  Twelfth  and  Fifth  corps  crossed.  The  force 
then  over  the  river  moved  in  two  columns  for  the  Rapidan — the 
Eleventh  and  Twefth,  under  Slocum,  for  Germanna  ford,  the 
Fifth  for  Ely's.  Pleasanton,  with  one  brigade  of  cavalry,  accom 
panied  the  infantry.  On  the  28th  Hooker's  headquarters  were 
at  Moirisville;  on  the  night  of  the  3Oth  they  were  established 
at  Chancellorsville,  while  Butterfield,  his  Chief  of  Staff,  was  left 
at  Falmouth  as  a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  the  two  wings, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  sending  dispatches  around  generally. 

While  these  movements  were  in  progress,  what  was  General 
Lee  doing?  His  army  rested  from  the  Rappahannock  above 
Fredericksburg  to  Jackson's  position  at  Moss  Neck,  fourteen 
miles  below  it.  Anderson's  division  was  on  the  extreme  left — 
Mahone's  and  Posey's  brigades  being  near  United  States  ford, 
and  Wilcox's  brigade  was  at  Banks'  ford.  Next  to  Anderson 
came  McLaws'  dvision;  then  Jackson's  corps.  The  country  be 
tween  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapidan  was  occupied  by  Fitzhugh 
Lee's  brigade  of  cavalry  and  two  regiments  of  W.  H.  F.  Lee's — 
the  whole  under  Stuart,  watching  the  fords  of  the  upper  Rappa 
hannock.  That  stream  protected  Hooker's  march  up  the  river 
from  view.  Our  pickets  were  not  encountered  until  the  night  of 
28th,  when  his  advance  crossed  Kelly's  ford. 

The  Confederate  commander  knew  a  movement  was  in  pro 
gress.  With  the  serenity  of  almost  superhuman  intelligence,  he 
waited  for  it  to  be  developed  before  his  plans  were  laid  to 
counteract  it,  for  he  remembered  the  maxim  of  the  great  Napo 
leon,  that  when  your  enemy  is  making  a  mistake,  he  must  not 
be  interrupted.  His  attention  was  first  attracted  by  the  enemy 
crossing  in  boats  before  light  on  the  29th,  driving  off  the  pickets 
and  proceeding  to  lay  down  the  pontoons  at  two  points — one,  as 
we  have  seen,  below  ,the  mouth  of  Deep  run,  the  other  a  mile 
below.  A  considerable  force,  he  saw,  was  crossed  during  the 
day  and  massed  out  of  sight  under  the  high  banks  of  the  river. 
Early's  division  of  Jackson's  corps,  which  was  near  Hamilton's 
crossing,  was  at  once  moved  by  its  alert  commander  into  line  on 
the  railroad,  the  right  at  Hamilton's,  the  left  on  Deep  run,  occu 
pying  at  the  same  time  the  River  road  in  his  front  by  three  regi 
ments,  keeping  the  enemy  from  advancing  to  i,t  (Early's  report). 
The  remainder  of  Jackson's  corps  was  that  day  moved  from  its 
camps  near  Grace  church  and  Moss  Neck  to  Hamilton's — Rodes, 
in  command  of  D.  H.  Hill's  division,  going  into  line  on  Early's 
right,  perpendicular  to  the  railroad,  and  extending  to  Massapon- 
nax  creek.  Ramseur's  brigade  occupieS  the  south  side  of  the  creek, 
guarding  the  ford  near  its  mouth.  Rodes'  line,  under  the  super- 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  309 

intendence  of  Colonels  Thompson  Brown  and  Tom  Carter,  was 
rapidly  and  strongly  fortified.  A.  P.  Hill's  and  Trimble's  divi 
sions,  the  latter  under  Colston,  were  formed  in  rear.  And  so 
General  Lee  waited. 

Every  country  boasts  its  beautiful  river.  In  France,  the  Seine 
with  its  hills  and  valleys,  forests  and  meadows,  villages,  towns  and 
populous  cities.  In  England,  the  Thames,  with  its  green  fields 
and  quiet  hamlets.  In  Austria,  the  beautiful  blue  Danube.  In 
Russia,  the  frozen  Neva.  In  Germany,  the  castle-lined  Rhine. 
In  America,  the  Hudson,  the  Potomac  and  the  Father  of  Waters; 
and  yet  their  beauty  and  sublimity  did  not  equal  the  Rappahan- 
nock  when  spanned  by  pontoons,  over  which  thousands  of  armed 
men  were  crossing,  and  whose  clear  surface  was  soon  to  be  crim 
soned  by  the  blood  of  heroes  wrestling  for  supremacy  along  its 
banks. 

Hooker's  advance,  it  will  be  remembered,  crossed  Kelly's  ford, 
away  up  beyond  General  Lee's  left,  on  the  night  of  the  28th 
(Tuesday).  Stuart  received  the  information  at  9  P.  M.  that  night 
at  Culpeper,  and  \V.  II.  F.  Lee,  near  Brandy,  at  once  sent  the 
Thirteenth  Virginia  cavalry  to  reinforce  the  pickets,  and  they 
checked  the  advance  one  mile  from  the  ford.  Orders  were  issued 
by  Stuart  that  the  enemy  be  enveloped  with  pickets ;  that  his 
route  from  Kelly's  might  at  once  be  ascertained,  and  that  his 
whole  cavalry  force  of  seven  regiments  be  thrown  in  his  front  to 
dispute  his  advance  on  daylight  of  the  29th. 

On  the  29th,  the  enemy  not  advancing  towards  the  position  of 
the  cavalry  between  Brandy  and  Kelly's,  Stuart  knew  he  must 
be  going  elsewhere;  so  leaving  one  regiment,  the  Thirteenth 
Virignia,  in  position,  he  moved  around  with  the  remainder  to  get 
on  the  road  from  Kelly's  to  Germanna,  and  at  Maclden's,  the 
intersection  of  the  Stephensburg  and  Richards'  Ford  with  the 
Kelly's  and  Germanna  road,  he  saw  long  columns  of  infantry 
marching1  for  Germanna.  His  advance,  Fitz.  Lee's  brigade, 

o  o 

charged  into  the  column,  scattered  it  at  the  point  struck,  and 
the  road  they  were  marching  on  was  temporarily  seized  and  held. 
From  prisoners  taken  it  was  ascertained  that  two  corps  were  on 
that  road  and  one  on  the  Ely's  ford  road,  all  marching  on  Chan- 
cellorsville.  He  at  once  informed  General  Lee  by  telegraph  from 
Culpeper  Courthouse  of  the  fact.  He  had  previous!}'  transmitted 
intelligence  that  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  were  passing  up  the 
river;  on  the  forenoon  of  the  29th  that  they  had  crossed  at  Kelly's, 
and  later,  on  same  day,  that  they  were  marching  on  Chancellors- 
ville.  After  reaching  that  point  he  knew,  too,  the  two  wings  of 
the  Federal  army  were  fourteen  miles  apart — the  distance  from 
Chancellorsville  to  Deep  run,  below  Fredericksburg — and  that 


3IO  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

his  army  was  between  them.  "Beware  of  rashness,"  General 
Hooker.  Some  fifty  thousand  "rebellious  Rebels"  have, by  your 
own  act,  been  placed  between  your  two  wings,  and,  what  is  worse 
for  you,  they  are  commanded  by  Lee  and  Jackson.  Oh!  "be 
ware  of  rashness."  General  Lee  perfectly  understood  the  mili 
tary  problem  thus  presented  to  him.  Drive  the  wedge  in  and 
keep  the  two  parts  asunder.  If  possible,  hold  one  part  still  by 
a  feint,  or,  if  necessary,  retard  its  march  by  a  fight.  Concentrate 
upon  and  overwhelm  the  other.  Sedgwick,  in  command  of  the 
troops  in  the  Confederate  front,  lay  quiet  while  Hooker  was 
massing  at  Chancellorsville. 

In  a  conversation  with  a  Confederate  officer  at  Lexington,  on 
February  i6th,  1868,  General  Lee  said,  in  regard  to  Chancellors 
ville,  that  "Jackson  at  first  preferred  to  attack  Sedgwick's  force 
in  the  plain  at  Fredericksburg,  but  he  told  him  he  feared  it  was 
as  impracticable  as  it  was  at  the  first  battle  of  Fredericksburg. 
It  was  hard  to  get  at  the  enemy  and  harder  to  get  away  if  we 
drove  him  into  the  river."  "But,"  said  he  to  Jackson,  "if  you 
think  it  can  be  done,  I  will  give  orders  for  it."  Jackson  then 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  examine  the  ground,  and  did  so  during 
the  afternoon,  and  at  night  came  to  Lee  and  said  he  thought  he 
(Lee)  was  right;  "it  would  be  inexpedient  to  attack  there." 
"  Move  then,"  said  Lee,  "at  dawn  to-morrow  (the  1st  May)  up  to 
Anderson,"  who  had  been  previously  ordered  to  proceed  towards 
Chancellorsville;  "and  the  next  time  I  saw  Jackson,"  said  Gene 
ral  Lee,  "was  upon  the  next  day,  when  he  was  on  our  skirmish 
line,  driving  in  the  enemy's  skirmishers  around  Chancellorsville." 

Let  us  follow  the  movements  there  first.  Hooker,  at  Morris- 
ville  on  the  28th,  ordered  his  cavalry  corps  to  cross  the  river 
that  night  or  before  8  A.  M.  on  the  2Qth,  above  Kelly's  ford.  A 
portion  to  move  via  Raccoon  ford  on  the  Rapidan  to  Louisa 
Courthouse,  thence  to  the  Richmond,  Fredericksburg  and  Poto 
mac  railroad,  to  operate  upon  Lee's  communications.  Another 
portion  was  to  follow  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railroad  up 
through  Culpeper,  to  occupy  the  Confederate  cavalry  and  to 
mask  the  movement.  'Stuart  received  orders  to  get  in  front,  if 
possible,  of  the  enemy  moving  towards  Chancellorsville,  delay 
him  and  protect  the  left  of  the  army.  He  left  W.  H.  F.  Lee  with 
two  regiments,  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Virginia  cavalry,  about  eight 
hundred  troopers  (the  remaining  two  regiments  of  that  brigade — 
viz:  the  Second  North  Carolina  and  the  Tenth  Virginia — being 
on  detached  duty),  to  contend,  as  best  he  could,  with  Stoneman's 
cavalry,  numbering,  by  the  return  of  April  30,  1863,  an  aggre 
gate  present  for  duty  of  thirteen  thousand  three  hundred  and 
ninety-eight,  or  "actually  available  for  the  line  of  battle,"  eleven 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  311 

thousand  and  seventy-nine — and  which  force  all  crossed  the  river 
with  Stoneman,  except  three  regiments  under  Pleasanton,  which 
were  retained  by  Hooker  for  service  \vith  his  army.  Fitz.  Lee's 
brigade  alone  accompanied  Stuart.  It  crossed  the  Rapidan  at 
Raccoon  ford  on  the  night  of  the  2Qth  April,  and  moved  down 
the  Plank  road  towards  Chancellorsville.  Couriers  were  sent  to 
Germanna  and  Ely's  fords  to  notify  the  Confederate  pickets  of 
the  enemy's  approach.  These  couriers  were  captured,  and  hence 
the  notice  was  not  received  by  them.  By  the  good  management 
of  Captain  Collins,  of  the  cavalry,  the  enemy's  advance  was 
checked  for  some  time  at  Germanna,  and  his  wagons  and  imple 
ments  saved — for  he  was  fortifying  it — though  some  of  his  men 
were  captured.  At  Wilderness  tavern,  the  intersection  of  Stuart's 
route  with  the  road  from  Germanna,  the  marching  infantry  col 
umn  was  again  met,  attacked  and  delayed.  The  Third  Virginia 
cavalry  was  then  in  its  front  to  check  its  march;  but  hearing  that 
Meade,  via  Ely's  ford,  had  already  reached  Chancellorsville,  the 
march  of  the  cavalry  was  directed  to  Todd's  tavern,  which  was 
reached  on  the  night  of  the  3Oth.  Stuart,  with  his  staff,  then 
proceeded  towards  Eredericksburg,  to  report  in  person  to  Gene 
ral  Eee,  but  had  not  gone  a  mile  before  he  was  confronted  by 
the  enemy's  cavalry.  He  sent  back  for  a  regiment.  The  Fifth 
Virginia  was  sent,  which  attacked  and  routed  the  force  in  his 
front.  Another  body  of  the  Federal  cavalry  then  came  up  in 
rear  of  the  Fifth,  to  whose  assistance  the  remainder  of  Fitz.  Ece's 
brigade  marched;  when,  by  a  series  of  charges  in  the  bright 
moonlight  of  that  night,  the  enemy  were  defeated  and  scattered. 
This  force  proved  to  be  the  Sixth  New  York  cavalry,  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Me  Vicar,  who  was  returning  from  a  recon- 
noissance  made  from  Chancellorsville  towards  Spotsylvania 
Courthouse,  and  whose  gallant  commander  was  killed,  for  I 
know  well  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  men. 

The  Third  and  Fourth  cavalry  were  placed  on  General  Lee's 
right  flank,  as  he  was  moving  on  Chancellorsville;  the  First, 
Second  and  Fifth  Virginia  on  his  left,  and  these  five  regiments, 
with  a  portion  of  the  Fifteenth  Virginia,  did  duty  for  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia. 

Military  critics,  in  charging  that  Stuart  was  not  in  Hooker's 
front  as  he  marched  towards  Chancellorsville,  should  recollect 
that  Stoneman's  cavalry  corps,  five  times  as  great  in  numbers  as 
Stuart's  command,  crossed  on  Hooker's  right,  and  had  to  be 
watched  and  met. 

At  midnight  on  the  2Qth  April,  Anderson's  division,  moving 
under  orders,  reached  Chancellorsville.  Posey  and  Mahone  of 
that  command  were  already  there,  having  been  withdrawn  from 


312  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

United  States  or  Bark  Mill  ford.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the 
3Oth,  Anderson  retired  to  the  intersection  of  the  Mine  and  Plank 
roads,  near  Tabernacle  church,  and  began  to  entrench — the 
Eighth  Pennsylvania  cavalry,  Hooker's  advance,  shirmishing 
with  his  rear  guard  as  he  left  Chancellorsville. 

General  Lee,  having  now  decided  to  hold  Sedgvvick  at  arm's 
length  while  he  hammered  Hooker,  entrusted  the  former  duty 
to  Early,  giving  him,  in  addition  to  his  own  division,  Barksdale's 
brigade  of  McLaws'  division  and  the  reserve  artillery  under  Pen- 
dleton.  At  midnight  on  the  3Oth,  McLaws  marched  for  Ander 
son,  reaching  him  before  sunrise  on  the  ist  of  May.  At  dawn, 
on  May  ist,  Jackson,  too,  marched  for  Anderson's  position,  reach 
ing  it  at  8  A.  M.  At  that  hour  he  found  Anderson  entrenching 
along  his  line.  Assuming  command,  Jackson  ordered  the  work 
to  be  discontinued  and  the  troops  to  be  put  in  readiness  to 
advance.  At  1 1  A.  M.  Anderson  moved  out  on  the  Plank  road 
towards  Chancellorsville,  with  the  brigades  of  Wright  and  Posey 
leading,  while  McLaws  marched  on  the  Old  turnpike,  his  advance 
being  preceded  by  Mahone's  brigade  of  Anderson's  division,, 
with  Wilcox  and  Perry  of  the  same  division  co-operating;  while 
Jackson's  corps,  less  Early's  division,  like  the  "Old  Guard  of 
Napoleon,"  followed  Anderson.  Alexander's  battalion  of  artil 
lery  accompanied  the  advance. 

Hooker  concentrated  on  the  3Oth  his  right  wing  at  Chancel 
lorsville,  and  was  in  high  spirits,  for  he  issued  then  his  General 
Order  No.  47,  which  curiously  reads  thus :  "  It  is  with  heartfelt 
satisfaction  that  the  Commanding-General  announces  to  the  army 
that  the  operations  of  the  last  three  days  have  determined  that 
our  enemy  must  either  ingloriously  fly,  or  come  out  from  behind 
his  defences  and  give  us  battle  on  our  own  ground,  where  cer 
tain  destruction  awaits  him.  The  operations  of  the  Fifth,  Elev 
enth  and  Twelfth  corps  have  been  a  succession  of  splendid 
achievements."  " Beware  of  rashness !"  General  Hooker;  your 
troops  have  only  done  some  marching  without  opposition,  and 
while  you  write  your  enemy  is  closing  in  upon  you. 

On  May  ist,  Hooker,  having  been  joined  by  Sickles'  corps 
and  the  two  divisions  of  Couch's  corps,  which  had  crossed  at 
United  States  ford,  determined  to  advance  towards  Fredericks- 
burg  with  the  purpose  of  driving  his  enemy  away  from  Banks' 
ford,  six  miles  below,  in  order  to  open  a  shorter  and  more  direct 
communication  with  his  left  wing — in  ignorance  of  the  objections 
General  Lee  had  to  such  a  movement,  because  it  interfered  with 
his  plan  to  keep  the  wings  apart.  The  Fifth  corps  was  ordered 
down  the  River  road,  the  Twelfth  down  the  Plank  road,  with 
the  Eleventh  in  its  rear.  A  division  and  battery  of  the  Second 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  313 

corps  was  sent  to  Todd's  tavern,  on  the  Spotsylvania  Courthouse 
road  from  Chancellorsville.  The  other  divisions  and  batteries  to 
be  massed  near  Chancellorsville;  the  Third  corps  to  be  massed 
on  United  States  Ford  road,  about  one  mile  from  Chancellors 
ville,  except  one  brigade  and  one  battery  at  Dowdall's,  on  Plank 
road,  west  of  Chancellorsville;  Pleasanton's  cavalry  to  be  at 
Chancellorsville,  and  Hooker's  headquarters  were  ordered  to  be 
established  at  Tabernacle  church — the  movement  to  be  completed 
by  2  o'clock.  //  was  not  completed.  Indeed,  as  the  head  of  the 
Twelfth  corps,  marching  on  the  Plank  road,  emerged  from  the 
forest,  they  saw  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  advancing  in 
line  of  battle.  Then  dropped,  a  little,  Hooker's  self-confidence. 

He  says,  fearing  that  he  could  not  throw  his  troops  through 
the  forest  fast  enough,  and  apprehensive  of  being  whipped  in 
detail,  he  ordered  his  army  to  retire  to  their  lines  around  Chan 
cellorsville.  Changing  at  this  point  his  "offensive  strategy "  to 
"defensive  tactics"  was  fatal  to  him. 

When  Anderson  met  the  enemy,  Wright  was  ordered  to  turn 
his  right  with  his  brigade,  and  at  Catharine  furnace  he  had  a 
sharp  encounter  with  a  portion  of  the  Twelfth  corps.  Night 
stopped  it,  and  at  10  P.  M.  Jackson  ordered  him  back  to  the 
Plank  road,  along  which  Posey  had,  in  the  meantime,  advanced 
to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  enemy's  entrenchments  around 
Chancellorsville.  McLaws  had  moved  up  the  Old  turnpike, 
Semmcs'  brigade  on  his  left,  and  Mahone's,  Wofford's  and  Perry's 
brigades  of  Anderson's  division  on  his  right,  in  the  order  named. 
Syke's  regulars  were  first  met.  They  attacked  Semmes,  but  were 
repulsed.  Kershaw's  brigade  went  to  Semmes'  support,  but  was 
not  engaged.  Wilcox,  with  his  brigade,  was  ordered  to  the  right, 
on  Mine  (or  River)  road,  the  cavalry  having  reported  an  advance 
there.  Meade,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  on  that  road.  McLaws 
continued  to  go  forward,  and  halting  at  dark,  bivouacked  along 
the  heights  just  beyond  the  point  where  the  Mine  road  crosses 
the  turnpike.  General  Lee's  line  of  battle  was  now  within  a  mile 
of  Chancellorsville,  and  close  up  to  the  enemy's  entrenchments. 
Here,  as  he  says,  the  enemy  had  "assumed  a  position  of  great 
natural  strength,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a  dense  forest,  filled 
with  tangled  undergrowth,  in  the  midst  of  which  breastworks  of 
logs  had  been  constructed  with  trees  felled  in  front,  so  as  to  form 
an  almost  impenetrable  abatis.  His  artillery  swept  the  few  narrow 
roads  by  which  his  position  could  be  approached  from  the  front, 
and  commanded  the  adjacent  works." 

The  left  of  Hooker's  lines,  extending  from  Chancellorsville  to 
the  Rappahannock,  covered  the  United  States  ford,  where,  using 
a  pontoon,  he  communicated  with  Sedgwick.  From  Chancel- 
21 


314  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

lorsville,  the  right  of  his  line  ran  at  first  in  front  of  the  Plank 
road,  but  was  then  retired  until  it  met  again  at  Dowdall's  or 
Melzei  Chancellor's,  the  line  forming  the  arc — the  road  the  chord. 
From  Dowdall's  the  line  ran  west  to  Wilderness  church.  At 
that  point  separates  the  Plank  road  and  Old  turnpike,  which  from 
Chancellorsville  had  been  the  same  road,  the  former  being  the 
most  southerly  one. 

Hooker's  line  ran  west  from  this  point  along  the  Old  turnpike. 
His  right  was  held  by  O.  O.  Howard's  Eleventh  corps — two  regi 
ments  and  two  companies  of  Colonel  Van  Gilsa's  brigade  of 
Devens'  division  occupying  the  extreme  right,  at  right  angles  to 
the  Old  turnpike  and  to  the  west  of  the  line  running,  in  part, 
along  it  to  the  north  of  it,  and  facing  west.  Howard's  report, 
which  I  quote  partly  to  show  the  different  nations  the  Southern 
people  were  fighting,  says:  "Schurz  prolonged  Devens'  line  east 
ward.  He  had  three  regiments  of  General  Schimmelfennig's 
deployed  and  two  in  reserve;  also  two  regiments  of  Colonel 
Krzyzanowski's  brigade.  General  Steinwehr  had  two  regiments 
of  Colonel  Bushbeck's  and  four  guns  of  General  Wiederich's 
were  posted  on  Steinwehr's  right." 

Hooker's  line  of  battle  was  in  the  shape  of  a  V,  well  spread 
open  at  the  ends,  the  apex  being  at  Chancellorsville. 

The  problem  presented  to  General  Lee's  mind  on  Friday  night, 
May  1st,  was  to  decide  how  best  to  attack  Hooker's  army  on  the 
morning  of  May  2d.  Time  was  an  important  element;  for  near 
Fredericksburg,  in  his  rear,  was  Sedgwick,  largely  outnumbering 
the  Confederate  force  in  his  front  under  Early.  During  the 
afternoon,  General  Lee  wished  to  attack  from  his  right  and  cut 
Hooker  off  from  United  States  ford,  severing  his  communications 
with  Sedgwick,  and  rode  down  himself  and  examined  the  lines 
all  the  way  to  the  river,  but  found  no  place  where  he  could  do 
so.  Returning  at  night,  he  found  Jackson,  and  asked  him  if  he 
knew  of  any  place  to  attack.  Jackson  said,  "  No."  Lee  said, 
"Then  we  must  get  around  on  the  Fede'ral  right."  Jackson  said 
he  had  been  inquiring  about  roads  by  the  furnace.  Stuart  came 
up  then,  and  said  he  would  go  down  to  the  furnace  and  see  what 
he  could  learn  about  roads.  He  soon  returned  with  Rev.  Dr.  B. 
T.  Lacy,  who  said  "a  circuit  could  be  made  around  by  Wilderness 
tavern";  and  a  young  man  living  in  the  county,  and  then  in  the 
cavalry,  was  sent  for  to  act  as  guide. 

Ah  !  what  an  earnest  talk  Lee  and  Jackson  had  on  the  night  of 
May  the  1st.  At  sunset  they  took  their  seats  on  a  log  on  the 
right  or  north  side  of  the  Plank  road,  and  a  little  distance  in  the 
woods.  Colonel  Marshall,  the  well-known  aid-de-camp  of  Gene 
ral  Lee,  was  the  only  other  person  present,  having  been  ordered 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHU3H    LEE.  315 

to  come  to  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of  writing  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Davis,  dictated  by  General  Lee.  Marshall  sat  on  the  end  of  a 
fallen  tree,  within  three  feet  of  the  two  Generals,  and  heard  every 
word  that  passed  between  them,  and  this  is  what  he  tells  me  Lee 
and  Jackson  talked  about  on  that  eventful  night:  "Jackson  spoke 
to  General  Lee  about  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  during  the 
advance,  and  commented  upon  the  promptness  with  which  the 
enemy  had  appeared  to  abandon  his  movements  towards  Frede- 
ricksburg  when  opposed,  and  the  ease  with  which  he  had  been 
driven  back  to  Chancellorsville,  and  concluded  by  expressing 
the  opinion  very  decidedly,  and  repeating  it  more  than  once,  that 
the  enemy  would  recross  the  Rappahannock  before  morning.  He 
said,  in  substance,  'by  to-morrow  morning  there  will  not  be  any 
of  them  this  side  of  the  river.'  General  Lee  expressed  the  hope 
that  General  Jackson's  expectations  might  be  realized,  but  said 
'he  did  not  look  for  such  a  result;  that  he  did  not  believe  the 
enemy  would  abandon  his  attempt  so  easily,'  and  expressed  his 
conviction  that  the  main  body  of  General  Hooker's  army  was  in 
his  front,  and  that  the  real  move  was  to  be  made  from  this  direc 
tion,  and  not  from  Fredericksburg.  On  this  point  there  was  a 
great  difference  of  opinion  among  our  higher  officers,  and  Gene 
ral  Lee  was  the  only  one  who  seemed  to  have  the  absolute  con 
viction  that  the  real  movement  of  the  Federal  army  was  the  one 
he  was  then  meeting.  In  this  belief  he  never  wavered  from  the 
first.  After  telling  General  Jackson  that  he  hoped  his  opinion 
might  be  proved  to  be  correct,  General  Lee  added:  'But,  Gene 
ral,  we  must  get  ready  to  attack  the  enemy  if  we  should  find  him 
here  to-morrow,  and  you  must  make  all  arrangements  to  move 
around  his  right  flank.'  General  Lee  then  took  up  the  map,  and 
pointed  out  to  Jackson  the  general  direction  of  his  route  by  the 
Furnace  and  Brock  roads.  Some  conversation  took  place  as  to 
the  importance  of  endeavoring  to  conceal  the  movement  from 
the  enemy,  and  as  to  the  existence  of  roads  further  to  the  ene 
my's  right,  by  which  General  Jackson  might  pass  so  as  not  to 
be  exposed  to  observation  or  attack.  The  general  line  of  Jack 
son's  route  was  pointed  out,  and  the  necessity  of  celerity  and 
secrecy  was  enjoined  upon  him.  The  conversation  was  a  lengthy 
one,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  it,  General  Lee  said  to  Jackson 
'that  before  he  moved  in  the  morning,  if  he  should  have  any 
doubt  as  to  whether  the  enemy  was  still  in  position,  he  could 
send  a  couple  of  guns  to  a  spot  close  by,  and  open  fire  on  the 
enemy's  position,  which  would  speedily  settle  the  question/ 
From  the  spot  referred  to,  two  of  our  guns  had  to  be  withdrawn 
that  afternoon,  as  the  infantry  were  suffering  from  the  fire  they 
were  drawing  from  the  enemy.  General  Jackson  then  withdrew, 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

and  General  Lee  dictated  to  Colonel  Marshall  a  long  letter  to 
President  Davis,-  giving  him  fully  the  situation.  In  it  he  re- 
greted  he  would  not  have  the  assistance  of  Pickett's  and  Hood's 
divisions,  but  expressed  his  confidence  in  the  good  judgment 
that  had  withdrawn  and  kept  them  from  him,  and  closed  with  the 
hope  that,  notwithstanding  all  our  dangers  and  disadvantages, 
Providence  would  bless  the  efforts  which  he  was  sure  his  brave 
army  would  make  to  deserve  success." 

I  give  all  this  in  detail  to  show  the  errors  writers  upon  Chan- 
cellorsville  have  fallen  into  in  reference  to  the  ORIGIN  of  Jackson's 
famous  flank  movement. 

And  as  settling  the  question  as  to  who  originated  this  move 
ment,  I  give  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Gene 
ral  Lee  to  Rev.  Dr.  A.  T.  Bledsoe,  in  reply  to  one  from  Dr. 
Bledsoe,  in  which  he  asked  the  direct  question  as  to  whether 
Jackson's  move  originated  with  himself  or  was  suggested  by 
General  Lee: 

LEXINGTON,  VA.,  October  28th,  1867. 
Dr.  A.  T.  BLEDSOE, 

Office  "  Southern  Review,"  Baltimore,  Md.: 

My  Dear  Sir —  .         .         .         . 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry,  I  must  acknowledge  that  I  have  not 
read  the  article  on  Chancellorsville  in  the  last  number  of  the 
Southern  Review,  nor  have  I  read  any  of  the  books  published  on 
either  side  since  the  termination  of  hostilities.  I  have  as  yet  felt 
no  desire  to  revive  my  recollections  of  those  events,  and  have 
been  satisfied  with  the  knowledge  I  possessed  of  what  transpired. 
I  have,  however,  learned  from  others  that  the  various  authors  of 
the  life  of  Jackson  award  to  him  the  credit  of  the  success  gained 
by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  where  he  was  present,  and 
describe  the  movements  of  his  corps  orvcommand  as  independent 
of  the  general  plan  of  operations,  and  undertaken  at  his  own  sug 
gestion  and  upon  his  own  responsibility.  I  have  the  greatest 
reluctance  to  do  anything  that  might  be  considered  as  detracting 
from  his  well-deserved  fame,  for  I  believe  that  no  one  was  more 
convinced  of  his  worth,  or  appreciated  him  more  highly,  than 
myself;  yet  your  knowledge  of  military  affairs,  if  you  have  none 
of  the  events  themselves,  will  teach  you  that  this  could  not  have 
been  so.  Every  movement  of  an  army  must  be  well  considered 
and  properly  ordered,  and  every  one  who  knows  General  Jackson 
must  know  that  he  was  too  good  a  soldier  to  violate  this  funda 
mental  military  principle.  In  the  operations  around  Chancellors 
ville,  I  overtook  General  Jackson,  who  had  been  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  advance  as  the  skirmishers  of  the  approaching 
armies  met,  advanced  with  the  troops  to  the  Federal  line  of 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  317 

defences,  and  was  cm  the  field  until  their  whole  army  recrossed 
the  Rappahannock.  There  is  no  question  as  to  who  was  respon 
sible  for  the  operations  of  the  Confederates,  or  to  whom  any 
failure  would  have  been  charged. 

What  I  have  said  is  for  your  own  information.  With  my  best 
wishes  for  the  success  of  the  Southern  Review  and  for  your  own 
welfare,  in  both  of  which  I  take  a  lively  interest, 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  friend  and  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE. 

In  a  little  pine  thicket  close  by  the  scene  of  this  conference, 
General  Lee  and  staff  bivouacked  that  night.  During  the  evening 
reports  reached  him  from  Early  that  all  was  quiet  along  the  Rap 
pahannock.  Wilcox  was  ordered  back  to  Banks'  ford,  in  conse 
quence  of  other  rumors.  Lee's  orders  had  been  issued,  his  plans 
digested — his  trusty  Lieutenants  were  to  carry  them  out;  the 
Chieftain  slept.  Hooker  at  Chancellorsville,  one  and  a  half  miles 
away,  was,  however,  awake,  for  at  1.55,  on  the  morning  of  the 
2d  of  May,  he  dispatched  to  Butterfield,  to  order  the  pontoon 
bridges  taken  up  below  Fredericksburg  and  Reynolds'  corps  to 
march  at  once  to  his  headquarters. 

The  morning  of  May  the  2d,  1863,  broke  clear.  General  Lee 
emerged  from  the  little  thicket  and  stood  on  its  edge  at  sunrise, 
erect  and  soldierly,  to  see  Jackson's  troops  file  by.  They  had 
bivouacked  on  his  right,  and  were  now  commencing  the  flank 
movement.  About  half  an  hour  after  sunrise  Jackson  himself 
came  riding  along.  When  opposite  to  General  Lee  he  drew  rein, 
and  the  two  conversed  for  a  few  minutes.  Jackson  then  started 
forward,  pointing  in  the  direction  his  troops  were  moving.  His 
face  was  a  little  flushed,  Colonel  Marshall  says,  as  it  was  turned 
back  towards  General  Lee,  who  nodded  approval  to  what  he  had 
said. 

The  sun  rose  unclouded  and  brilliant,  gilding  the  hilltops  and 
"penetrating  the  vapors  of  the  Valley.  Rising  as  gorgeous  as  did 
the  "sun  of  Austerlitz,"  which  produced  such  an  impression  upon 
the  imagination  of  Napoleon;  it  should  be  remembered  by  the 
people  of  the  South,  for  its  rays  fell  upon  the  last  meeting,  in 
this  world,  of  Lee  and  Jackson.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  is 
reported  to  have  said  "a  man  of  refined  Christian  sensibilities  is 
totally  unfit  for  the  profession  of  a  soldier,"  but  here  were  two 
devoted  Christians,  who  faithfully  performed  all  their  duties;  and 
so  they  parted. 

General  Lee  was  to  keep  fourteen  thousand  men  in  front  of 
Hooker's  seventy-three  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
while  Jackson  moved  around  his  right  flank  with  twenty-six 


318  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

thousand.  I  say  seventy-three  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four,  because  the  Fifth,  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  corps  numbered, 
according  to  the  return  of  April  the  3Oth,  an  aggregate  present 
for  duty  of  forty-two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fourteen;  the 
Third,  eighteen  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-six,  and  two 
divisions  of  the  Second  corps,  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and 
twenty-four.  The  total,  then,  would  be  seventy-three  thousand 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four — not  including  the  three  cavalry 
regiments  under  Pleasanton.  The  Second  corps  numbered  sixteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-six;  but  Gibbon's  division  of 
that  corps  was  with  Sedgwick.  Putting  one-third  of  the  whole 
as  Gibbon's  strength,  we  would  have  five  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twelve  men,  leaving  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  for  the  other  two  divisions.  The  First  corps,  Reynolds,  was 
not  then  present,  and  is,  therefore,  not  included.  On  the  2d  of 
May,  it  was  marching  from  Sedgwick  to  Hooker,  but  it  did  not 
get  to  him  until  daylight  on  the  3d.  This  corps  numbered  an 
aggregate  present  for  duty  on  the  3Oth  of  April,  nineteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  ninety-five.  After  its  arrival,  that  portion  of 
the  Federal  army  in  General  Lee's  front  amounted  to  ninety-two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  nineteen.  The  strategy  of  General 
Lee  was  bold  but  dangerous. 

At  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  when  the  Russians  made  a  flank 
movement  upon  Napoleon's  right,  he  moved  at  once  upon  the 
weakened  lines  of  the  Allies  in  his  front  and  pierced  them;  cut 
ting  the  Russian  army  in  two  parts,  leaving  some  battalions  to 
hold  the  right  wing,  he  wheeled  the  remainder  upon  the  left  wing, 
or  flanking  force,  and  destroyed  it;  then,  turning  towards  the 
right  wing,  he  directed  upon  it  a  terrible  onset,  and  it  too  was  no 
more.  I  am  told  that  the  men  of  Anderson,  which  was  one  of 
the  two  divisions  left  in  Hooker's  front,  after  Jackson's  departure, 
and  who  formed  a  thin  gray  line  tipped  with  steel,  were  about  six 
feet  apart.  How  long  would  it  have  taken  seventy-three  thousand 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  men  to  have  pierced  General  Lee's 
centre?  While  the  Commanding-General  is  thus  situated — a  con 
dition  which  has  Early's  sincere  sympathy,  being  in  a  similar 
situation  in  Sedgwick's  front  at  Fredericksburg — let  us  follow 
Jackson.  Turning  to  the  left  upon  the  Plank  road,  near  Aldrich's, 
he  moved  rapidly  diagonally  across  Hooker's  line  of  battle, 
screened  from  view  by  the  forest  and  by  Fitzhugh  Lee's  cavalry, 
which  had  been  ordered  to  mask  the  movement,  as  well  as  to 
precede  it.  Birney  of  Sickles'  corps,  who  with  his  division  was 
wedged  in  between  Howard's  left  and  Slocum's  right,  on  the  crest 
of  Scott's  run  as  early  as  8  A.  M.,  reported  to  Sickles  that  a  con 
tinuous  column  of  infantry,  trains  and  ambulances  was  passing 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  319 

his  front  towards  the  right.  He  ordered  Clark's  battery  to  go 
forward  to  a  commanding  eminence  and  fire  into  the  column. 
At  12  M.  Sickles  ordered  him  to  move  forward,  supported  by 
Whipple's  division  and  Barlow's  brigade  from  Howard,  pierce 
the  column  and  gain  the  road  they  were  moving  over.  This 
movement  was  reported  to  Hooker;  he  thought  the  Confederate 
army  was  in  full  retreat,  and  this  is  the  explanation  of  his  dispatch 
to  Sedgwick  on  that  day,  ordering  him  to  pursue  the  enemy  on 
the  Bowling  Green  road.  It  is  dated  at  4. 10  P.  M.,  and  said :  "  We 
know  the  enemy  is  flying,  trying  to  save  his  trains;  two  of  Sickles' 
divisions  are  amongst  them."  Jackson,  upon  passing  Catharine 
furnace,  where  a  road  came  in  from  Sickles'  line,  a  mile  distant, 
directed  Rodes  to  leave  Colonel  Best's  Twenty-third  Georgia 
regiment  there  to  guard  it.  It  was  these  troops  Sickles  reports 
as  having  attacked  and  captured  four  hundred  of  them.  Pleasanton 
was  with  Sickles,  in  command  of  the  Sixth  New  York,  Eighth 
and  Seventeenth  Pennsylvania  cavalry.  Colonel  J.  Thompson 
Brown,  who  had  just  passed  this  point  with  his  battalion  of 
artillery,  halted,  and  at  once  put  his  guns  in  position.  The  two 
nearest  brigades  of  Jackson's  column — Archer's  and  Thomas'  of 
Hill's  division — supported  him,  and  Sickles'  advance  was  checked, 
They  then  renewed  their  march — Anderson  having  replaced  them 
by  Posey's  brigade,  supported  by  Wright's.  Sickles,  however, 
gained  the  road  Jackson  was  marching  upon,  and  was  promised 
the  co-operation  of  Howard  and  Slocum  in  pursuing  the  flying 
Confederates. 

Jackson  was  marching  on.  My  cavalry  was  well  in  his  front. 
Upon  reaching  the  Plank  road,  some  five  miles  west  of  Chancel- 
lorsville,  my  command  was  halted,  and  while  waiting  for  Jackson 
to  come  up,  I  made  a  personal  reconnoissance  to  locate  the  Fed 
eral  right  for  Jackson's  attack.  With  one  staff  officer,  I  rode 
across  and  beyond  the  Plank  road,  in  the  direction  of  the  Old 
turnpike,  pursuing  a  path  through  the  woods,  momentarily  ex 
pecting  to  find  evidence  of  the  enemy's  presence.  Seeing  a 
wooded  hill  in  the  distance,  I  determined,  if  possible,  to  get  upon 
its  top,  as  it  promised  a  view  of  the  adjacent  country.  Cautiously 
I  ascended  its  side,  reaching  the  open  spot  upon  its  summit 
without  molestation.  What  a  sight  presented  itself  before  me! 
Below,  and  but  a  few  hundred  yards  distant,  ran  the  Federal  line 
of  battle.  I  was  in  rear  of  Howard's  right.  There  were  the 
lines  of  defence,  with  abatis  in  front,  and  long  lines  of  stacked 
arms  in  rear.  Two  cannon  were  visible  in  the  part  of  the  line 
seen.  The  soldiers  were  in  groups  in  the  rear,  laughing,  chat 
ting,  smoking,  probably  engaged,  here  and  there,  in  games  of 
cards  and  other  amusements  indulged  in  while  feeling  safe  and 


32O  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

comfortable,  awaiting  orders.  In  rear  of  them  were  other  parties 
driving  up  ancj,  butchering  beeves.  The  remembrance  of  the 
scene  is  as  clear  as  it  was  sixteen  years  ago.  So  impressed  was 
I  with  my  discovery,  that  I  rode  rapidly  back  to  the  point  on 
the  Plank  road  where  I  had  left  my  cavalry,  and  back  down  the 
road  Jackson  was  moving  on,  until  I  met  "Stonewall"  himself. 
"General,"  said  I,  "  if  'you  will  ride  with  me,  halting  your  column 
here,  out  of  sight,  I  will  show  you  the  enemy's  right,  and  you 
will  perceive  the  great  advantage  of  attacking  down  the  Old 
turnpike  instead  of  the  Plank  road,  the  enemy's  lines  being  taken 
in  reverse.  '  Bring  only  one  courier,  as  you  will  be  in  view  from 
the  top  of  the  hill."  Jackson  assented,  and  I  rapidly  conducted 
him  to  the  point  of  observation.  There  had  been  no  change  in 
the  picture. 

I  only  knew  Jackson  slightly.  I  watched  him  closely  as  he 
gazed  upon  Howard's  troops.  It  was  then  about  2  P.  M.  His 
eyes  burned  with  a  brilliant  glow,  lighting  up  a  sad  face.  His 
expression  was  one  of  intense  interest;  his  face  was  colored 
slightly  with  the  paint  of  approaching  battle,  and  radiant  at  the 
success  of  his  flank  movement.  Was  he  happy  at  the  prospect 
of  the  "delightful  excitement — terms,  Dick  Taylor  says,  he  used 
to  express  his  pleasure  at  being  under  fire?  To  the  remarks 
made  to  him  while  the  unconscious  line  of  blue  was  pointed  out, 
he  did  not  reply  once  during  the  five  minutes  he  was  on  the  hill, 
and  yet  his  lips  were  moving.  From  what  I  have  read  and  heard 
of  Jackson  since  that  day,  I  know  now  what  he  was  doing  then. 
Oh!  "beware  of  rashness,"  General  Hooker.  Stonewall  Jackson 
is  praying  in  full  view  and  in  rear  of  your  right  flank ! 

While  talking  to- the  great  God  of  Battles,  how  could  he  hear 
what  a  poor  cavalryman  was  saying?  "Tell  General  Rodes," 
said  he,  suddenly  whirling  his  horse  towards  the  courier,  "to 
move  across  the  Old  plank-road ;  halt  when  he  gets  to  the  Old 
turnpike,  and  I  will  join  him  there."  One  more  look  upon  the 
Federal  lines,  and  then  he  rode  rapidly  down  the  hill,  his  arms 
flapping  to  the  motion  of  his  horse,  over  whose  head  he  seemed, 
good  rider  as  he  was,  he  would  certainly  go.  I  expected  to  be 
told  I  had  made  a  valuable  personal  reconnoissance — saving  the 
lives  of  many  soldiers,  and  that  Jackson  was  indebted  to  me 
to  that  amount  at  least.  Perhaps  I  might  have  been  a  little 
chagrined  at  Jackson's  silence,  and  hence  commented  inwardly 
and  adversely  upon  his  horsemanship.  Alas!  I  had  looked  upon 
him  for  the  last  time. 

While  Jackson's  column  was  moving  to  the  Old  turnpike,  my 
cavalry,  supported  by  the  Stonewall  brigade  under  Paxton,  moved 
a  short  distance  down  the  Plank  road  to  mask  the  movement. 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  321 

Rodes'  division — Jackson's  advance — reached  the  Old  turnpike 
about  three  miles  in  rear  of  Chancellorsville,  at  4  P.  M.  (Gene 
ral  Lee's  report).  "As  the  different  divisions  arrived,  they  were 
formed  at  right  angles  to  the  road" — Rodes  in  front;  Trimble's 
division,  under  Colston,  in  the  second  line,  two  hundred  yards 
in  rear  of  Rodes,  and  A.  P.  Hill's  division  in  the  third  line. 

At  6  P.  M.,  all  being  ready,  Jackson  ordered  the  advance. 
Howard,  commanding  Hooker's  right,  was  at  that  moment  at 
Dowdall's  or  Melzei  Chancellor's,  his  headquarters.  Carl  Schurz 
was  with  him.  Howard's  right  division  was  commanded  by 
General  Charles  Devens.  He  reported  the  enemy's  cavalry,  with 
horse  artillery,  deployed  in  his  front  at  4  P.  M. 

Jackson's  men  burst  with  a  cheer  upon  the  startled  enemy, 
and  swept  down  in  rear  of  Howard's  line,  capturing  cannon  be 
fore  they  could  be  turned  upon  them.  Howard  reports  as  the 
only  fighting  that  parts  of  Schimmelfennig's  and  Krzyzanowski's 
brigades  moved  gradually  back,  keeping  up  a  fire,  and  that  "at 
the  centre  and  near  the  Plank  road,  there  was  a  blind  panic  and 
a  great  confusion."  Devens,  the  present  Attorney-General,  fell 
back  rapidly,  very  rapidly,  upon  Schurz,  the  present  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  commanding  the  next  division,  and  Hooker's  right 
flank  was  yielded  up  by  Howard.  Sickles,  while  trying  to  cut 
off  Jackson,  came  near  being  cut  off  himself.  Pleasanton,  who 
was  with  him,  says  he  sent  back  the  Eighth  Pennsylvania  cavalry, 
and  hurled  it  at  Jackson's  corps,  with  heavy  loss  to  them,  but  he 
gained  fifteen  minutes,  which  enabled  him  to  put  twenty-two  guns 
double  shotted  with  canister  in  position  before  the  Rebels  came 
in  sight,  supporting  them  by  two  small  squadrons  of  cavalry. 

"In  rear  of  the  Eleventh  corps  the  Rebels  came  on,"  says 
Pleasanton,  "rapidly,  but  now  in  silence,  with  that  skill  and 
adroitness  they  often  display  to  .gain  their  object.  The  only 
color  visible  was  the  American  flag  with  the  centre  battalion. 
To  clear  up  this  doubt,  my  aid-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Thompson, 
First  New  York  cavalry,  rode  to  within  one  hundred  yards  of 
them,  when  they  called  out  to  him,  'We  are  friends!  come  on,' 
and  he  was  induced  to  go  fifty  yards  closer,  when  the  whole  line, 
in  a  most  dastardly  manner,  opened  on  him  with  musketry,  and 
dropped  the  American  colors  and  displayed  eight  or  ten  Rebel 
battle  flags.  He  escaped  unhurt!"  One  of  the  most  wonderful 
things  of  this  most  wonderful  battle,  is  this  statement  that  a 
mounted  officer  fifty  yards  from  Rodes'  line  should  be  fired  at 
by  the  whole  line  and  live  to  tell  it! 

In  his  official  report,  Rodes  says  "the  enemy,  being  taken  in 
flank  and  rear,  did  not  wait  for  an  attack."  Colston's  division 
followed  so  rapidly,  that  they  went  over  the  works  at  Melzei 


322  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

Chancellor's  with  Rodes'  men.  Both  divisions  entered  together 
a  second  piece  of  woods,  filled  with  abatis.  It  was  then  dark, 
and  the  whole  line  was  halted  to  reform.  There  was  then  no  line 
of  battle  between  our  troops  and  Chancellorsville,  says  Rodes, 
and  so  the  gallant  Crutchfield  opened  his  batteries  upon  that 
point.  "The  enemy  instantly  responded,"  Rodes  continues, 
"with  a  terrific  fire,  which  silenced  our  guns, but  did  little  execu 
tion  on  the  infantry."  The  fire  was  probably  from  the  twenty- 
two  guns  before  mentioned.  Hill  then  came  up  and  his  men 
were  deployed  in  Rodes'  front.  At  9  P.  M.  Jackson  ordered  him 
to  take  charge  of  the  pursuit  (Hill's  report).  As  soon  as  the  fire 
from  the  enemy's  artillery  had  ceased,  Lane's  brigade,  Hill's 
advance,  formed  its  line  of  battle — the  Thirty-third  North  Caro 
lina  deployed  in  its  front  as  skirmishers;  the  Seventh  and  Thirty- 
seventh  North  Carolina  on  the  right  of  the  road;  the  Eighteenth 
and  Twenty-eighth  North  Carolina  on  the  left.  Jackson  was 
eager  to  push  forward  to  cut  Hooker  off  from  the  fords  of  the 
Rappahannock.  Hill  came  up,  stopping  a  few  feet  in  front  of 
his  line.  Jackson  was  then  in  sight  and  both  some  paces  in  front 
of  Hill. 

Sending  the  only  staff  officer  to  Hill  to  tell  him  to  move  for 
ward  as  soon  as  possible,  Jackson  rode  slowly  along  the  pike 
towards  the  enemy.  Captain  Wilbourn,  of  his  Signal  corps,  was 
on  his  left  side,  two  of  the  Signal  corps  just  behind  them,  followed 
by  couriers.  Jackson  was  desirous  of  getting  information  useful 
to  Hill's  advance,  thinking  perhaps  a  skirmish  line  was  still  in 
his  front.  Jackson  and  his  little  party  had  ridden  but  a  few  rods, 
reaching  a  point  near  an  old  dismantled  house  to  the  right  of  the 
pike,  when  he  was  fired  on  by  our  troops  to  the  right  of  the  pike, 
the  balls  passing  diagonally  across — one  musket  firing  first,  per 
haps  accidentally.  Many  of  his  escort  and  their  horses  were 
shot  down  by  this  fire.  Jackson,  Captain  Wilbourn  and  the  few 
who  were  not  dismounted  wheeled  their  horses  to  the  left  and 
galloped  in  the  woods  to  get  out  of  range,  but  were  then  fired 
on  by  the  troops  to  the  left  of  the  road,  when  within  thirty  yards 
of  the  line,  having  been  taken  for  a  body  of  the  enemy's  cavalry. 
By  this  fire  General  Jackson  was  wounded.  The  troops  near  the 
road  did  not  fire,  because  they  knew  Jackson  had  passed  out. 
For  the  minute  particulars  of  this  sad  calamity,  I  must  refer  you 
to  Captain  Wilbourn's  account,  quoted  in  an  article  by  General 
Early  in  the  December,  1878,  number  of  the  Southern  Historical 
Papers,  for  now  I  adopt  the  words  of  General  Lee,  as  in  bed  that 
night,  resting  on  his  elbow,  he  listened  to  Captain  Wilbourn's 
report,  he  said:  "Ah!  Captain,  don't  let  us  say  anything  more 
about  it;  it  is  too  painful  to  talk  about."  The  enemy  then  opened 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  323 

a  furious  fire  of  shot,  shell  and  canister,  sweeping  down  the  road 
and  the  woods  upon  each  side.  A.  P.  Hill  and  Colonel  Crutch- 
field  were  disabled  by  this  fire,  and  among  others  General  Nicholls, 
of  the  Louisiana  brigade,  the  present  Governor  of  his  State,  had 
his  left  leg  torn  off  by  a  shell.  Rodes,  next  in  rank,  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  corps,  but  relinquished  it  to  General  Stuart,  who 
had  been  sent  for,  because,  in  his  own  modest  words,  he  was 
"satisfied  the  good  of  the  service  demanded  it." 

"And  shall  Trelawney  die  !  and  shall  Trelawney  die  ! 
Then  thirty  thousand  Cornish  boys  shall  know  the  reason  why." 

Stuart  was  near  Ely's  ford  with  the  cavalry  and  the  Sixteenth 
North  Carolina  infantry,  having  gone  there  after  dark  to  hold 
Averell  still,  who,  having  returned  from  his  raid,  was  reported  to 
be  at  that  point.  At  10.30  P.  M.  Captain  Adams,  of  Hill's  staff, 
summoned  him  to  the  command  of  Jackson's  corps.  Upon  his 
arrival  upon  the  battlefield,  Jackson  had  been  taken  to  the  icar, 
but  A.  P.  Hill,  who  was  still  there,  turned  over  the  command  to 
him.  With  the  assistance  of  Colonel  E.  P.  Alexander,  of  the 
artillery,  he  was  engaged  all  night  in  preparations  for  the  morrow. 
At  early  dawn  on  the  3d,  Stuart  pressed  the  corps  forward — 
Hill's  division  in  the  first  line,  Trimble's  in  second  and  Rodes'  in 
rear.  As  the  sun  lifted  the  mist,  the  ridge  to  his  right  was  found 
to  be  a  commanding  position  for  artillery.  Quickly  thirty  pieces, 
tinder  Colonels  T.  H.  Carter  and  Hilary  P.  Jones,  were  firing  from 
it.  Their  fire  knocked  a  piece  of  the  door  or  pillar  of  the  apart 
ment  Hooker  was  occupying  at  Chancellorsville  against  him,  and 
struck  him  down  senseless.  Pleasanton  says  when  he  saw  him 
about  10  A.  M.  that  day,  "he  was  lying  on  the  ground,  usually 
in  a  doze,  except  when  I  woke  him  up  to  attend  to  some  im 
portant  dispatch."  Couch  was  then  temporarily  called  to  the 
command.  Stuart  pressed  onward.  At  one  time  his  left  was  so 
strongly  pressed  that  his  three  lines  were  merged  into  one  while 
holding  his  position.  He  replied  to  a  notice  sent  him  that  the 
men  were  out  of  ammunition,  that  they  must  hold  their  ground 
with  the  bayonet.  About  this  time  Stuart's  right  connected  with 
Anderson's  left,  uniting  thus  the  two  wings  of  General  Lee's 
army.  He  then  massed  infantry  on  his  left,  and  at  8  A.  M. 
stormed  the  enemy's  works.  Twice  he  was  repulsed,  but  the 
third  time  Stuart  placed  himself  on  horseback  at  the  head  of  the 
troops,  and  ordering  the  charge,  carried  and  held  them — singing, 
with  a  ringing  voice,  "Old  Joe  Hooker,  won't  you  come  out  of  the 
Wilderness?"  An  eye-witness  says  of  him  that  he  could  not 
get  rid  of  the  impression  that  "Harry  of  Navarre"  led  the 


3^4  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

charge,  except  that  Stuart's  plume  was  black,  for  everywhere  the 
men  "  followed  his  feather." 

Anderson  gallantly  moved  direct  upon  Chancellorsville,  while 
McLaws  made  a  strong  demonstration  in  his  front.  At  10  A.  M. 
the  position  at  Chancellorsville  was  won,  and  the  enemy  had 
withdrawn  to  a  strong  position  near  the  Rappahannock. 

Preparations  were  at  once  made  to  attack  him  again,  when 
further  operations  were  arrested  by  the  intelligence  received  from 
Fredericksburg.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Sedgwick  was 
originally  left  in  front  of  Fredericksburg  'with  the  First,  Third 
and  Sixth  corps  and  one  division  of  the  Second  corps.  On  the 
3<Dth  of  April  at  12.30  P.  M.,  Sickles  left  him.  On  the  2d  of  May 
the  First  corps  was  ordered  away  from  him.  Sedgwick  was  then 
left,  Hooker  says,  with  thirty-two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty  men.  By  the  returns  of  April  3Oth  the  Sixth  corps  num 
bered  an  aggregate  present  for  duty  of  twenty-three  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  thirty.  Giving  Gibbon's  division  one-third 
of  the  Second  corps'  strength  (being  three  divisions  to  the  corps), 
he  would  have  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  twelve  present  for 
duty.  Add  that  strength  to  that  of  the  Sixth  corps  and  you 
will  have  twenty-nine  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-two  for 
Sedgwick's  total,  exclusive  of  the  reserve  artillery.  On  May  2d, 
9.55  A.  M.,  Hooker  telegraphs  him:  "You  are  all  right.  You 
have  but  Early's  division  in  your  front;  balance  all  up  here." 
Opposing  Sedgwick,  Early  had  his  division,  numbering  by  the 
returns  of  April  2Oth — the  nearest  one  to  the  battle — an  aggre 
gate  of  officers  and  men  of  seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-nine.  Deducting  losses  since  the  date  of  the  returns, 
this  division  carried  into  action  about  seven  thousand  five  hun 
dred  officers  and  men  (Early's  narrative).  Barksdale's  brigade 
numbered  fifteen  hundred  in  the  aggregate  (Early's  narrative). 
It  was  under  Early's  command.  The  total  infantry,  officers  and 
men,  would  be  then  nine  thousand,  or  a  little  over  eight  thou 
sand  muskets.  In  addition,  Early  had  Andrews'  battalion  of 
artillery,  of  twelve  guns;  Graham's,  four  guns;  a  Whitworth 
gun  posted  below  the  Massaponnax,  and  portions  of  Walton's, 
Cabell's  and  Cutt's  battalions  of  artillery,  under  General  Pendle- 
ton — making  in  all  some  forty-five  or  fifty  guns  (Early's  narra 
tive);  a  less  number  than  Sedgwick,  and  far  inferior  in  weight  of 
metal. 

At  9  P.  M.  on  the  2d,  after  Jackson's  success,  Hooker  tele 
graphs  Sedgwick  to  cross  the  Rappahannock  at  Fredericksburg, 
and  to  move  up  the  road  to  Chancellorsville  until  he  connects 
with  him,  destroying  Early  in  his  front.  He  tells  him  then  that 
he  will  probably  fall  upon  the  rear  of  the  troops  commanded  by 


ADDRESS  -OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  325 

General  Lee,  and  between  Hooker  and  himself  Lee  must  be  used 
up.  This  order  was  issued  under  the  impression  that  Sedgwick 
was  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  but  it  found  him  below  Frede- 
ricksburg  on  the  south  side.  The  night  was  so  bright  Hooker 
says  that  staff  officers  could  see  to  write  their  dispatches  by 
moonlight.  Gibbon,  near  Falmouth,  was  also  ordered  to  cross 
the  river  on  the  night  of  2d.  Sedgwick,  Hooker  tells  us,  did 
not  obey  the  spirit  of  the  order,  and  delayed  too  long.  Warren 
told  him  that  if  he  (Warren)  had  not  been  there,  Sedgwick  would 
not  have  moved  at  all.  At  1 1  P.  M.  Sedgwick  received  this  order 
to  cross  (Sedgwick's  report).  Being  already  over,  he  began  to 
move  by  the  flank  up  the  Bowling  Green  road  towards  Frede- 
ricksburg,  leaving  one  division  in  front  of  Farly's  right.  About 
daylight  he  occupied  the  town.  Gibbon  crossed  early  on  the  3d, 
and  at  7  A.  M.  was  formed  on  Sedgwick's  right.  In  moving 
forward  to  turn  our  left  he  was  stopped  by  the  canal.  Sedgwick 
then  determined  to  assault  Marye's  and  the  contiguous  hills,  and 
did  so.  His  right  column,  under  Colonel  Spear,  consisted  of 
four  regiments;  his  left  of  two  regiments,  under  Colonel  Johns. 
Both  columns,  supported  by  four  other  regiments  under  Colonel 
Burnham,  moved  upon  Marye's  hill,  while  Howe's  division  ad 
vanced  rapidly  in  three  columns  of  assault  on  the  left  of  Hazel 
run,  upon  Lee's  hill.  But  what  was  Early  doing?  With  his 
nine  thousand  infantry  he  occupied  a  line  six  miles  long,  from 
Hamilton's  crossing  to  a  point  on  the  river  above  Fredericks- 
burg.  Sedgwick  had,  as  stated  before,  twenty-nine  thousand 
three  hundred  and  forty-two  men.  Add  to  that  four  officers  and 
an  hundred  men  of  cavalry,  and  thirty-three  officers  and  eleven 
hundred  and  three  men  of  artillery,  and  his  whole  force  amounted 
to  thirty  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-two.  Barksdale 
held  the  left  of  Farly's  lines  from  Taylor's  hill  to  the  hill  in  rear 
of  Howison's  house.  Farly's  division  was  on  the  right  from 
Hamilton's  to  Deep  run,  while  between  Deep  run  and  the  right 
of  Lee's  hill  only  pickets  were  placed,  protected  by  a  cross  fire 
of  artillery.  Farly's  general  instructions  were  to  retard  the 
enemy's  advance  in  any  direction  if  he  moved,  or  to  keep  him 
still  if  he  would  remain  so,  or  to  join  the  main  army  of  General 
Lee  in  the  event  of  the  enemy  withdrawing  from  his  front. 
These  instructions  were  repeated  on  the  2d  instant,  but  by  a  mis 
apprehension  of  the  officer  conveying  them,  Early  was  directed 
to  move  unconditionally  to  General  Lee.  Leaving  Hays' brigade 
and  one  regiment  of  Barksdale's  at  Fredericksburg,  and  directing 
a  part  of  Pendleton's  reserve  artillery  to  be  sent  to  the  rear,  he 
began  his  march.  The  mistake  being  corrected,  Early  returned 
io  his  position.  Hays'  brigade  had  been  sent  to  reinforce  Barks- 


326  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

dale,  when  Sedgwick  occupied  Fredericksburg,  at  dawn  on  the 
3^ 

When  Early  began  to  withdraw,  Professor  Lowe  went  up  high 
in  a  balloon,  but  discovered  nothing.  To  quote  General  Early, 
"  Professor  Lowe's  balloon  reconnoissance  so  signally  failed  on 
this  occasion,  and  in  the  operations  around  Chancellorsville,  that 
they  were  abandoned  for  the  rest  of  the  war,  and  our  men  were 
deprived  of  the  benefit  of  these,  to  us,  cheap  and  harmless  ex 
hibitions." 

Soon  after  daylight  Sedgwick  moved  against  Marye's  hill,  but 
was  repulsed  by  Barksdale's  infantry  and  Pendleton's  artillery. 
His  force  also  endeavored  to  turn  the  left  of  Early's  division, 
commanded  by  Hoke,  up  Deep  run;  but  the  demonstration  was 
checked.  An  attempt  was  also  made  to  turn  our  extreme  left 
near  Taylor's  house;  it  was  prevented  by  General  Hays  and  the 
arrival  of  General  Wilcox  from  Banks'  ford.  The  enemy  then 
advanced  against  Marye's  hill  and  the  hills  to  the  right  and  left 
of  it.  Marye's  hill  was  defended  by  one  small  regiment,  three 
companies  of  another  and  four  pieces  of  artillery  (Barksdale's 
report).  Sedgwick  said  he  lost  one  thousand  men  in  ten  min 
utes  there.  Two  assaults  on  Marye's  hill  were  repulsed.  A  flag 
of  truce  was  then  sent  by  the  enemy  to  obtain  permission  to 
provide  for  the  wounded.  The  weakness  of  our  lines  was  seen. 
A  third  assault  was  ordered,  and  was  successful.  We  lost  eight 
pieces  of  artillery  upon  that  and  the  adjacent  heights.  Barks- 
dale  and  Hays  retired  down  the  Telegraph  road,  and  the  enemy's 
advance  was  checked  by  Early,  who  sent  three  regiments  of 
Gordon's  brigade  to  reinforce  them. 

Wilcox  threw  himself  in  front  of  Sedgwick's  advance  up  the 
Plank  road,  having  with  him  about  fifty  cavalry,  under  Collins, 
and  most  gallantly  disputed  it — falling  back  slowly  until  he  reached 
Salem  church,  five  miles  from  Fredericksburg.  Lieutenant  Pitzer, 
of  Early's  staff,  who  was  on  Lee's  hill  when  it  was  carried, 
galloped  at  once  to  General  Lee,  and  so  informed  him.  McLaws, 
with  his  three  brigades  and  one  of  Anderson's,  was  ordered  to 
reinforce  Wilcox,  that  Sedgwick  might  be  kept  off  Lee's  rear. 
Wilcox  was  found  in  line  at  Salem.  Kershaw  and  Wofford  were 
placed  on  his  right;  Semmes  and  Mahone  on  his  left.  The 
enemy  then  advanced  in  three  lines,  principally  upon  Wilcox. 
After  a  fierce  struggle,  they  were  repulsed  and  fled  in  confusion, 
pursued  for  nearly  a  mile  by  Wilcox  and  Semmes,  until  met  by 
the  enemy's  reserve.  They  then  retired  to  their  former  posi 
tion. 

McLaws  communicated  with  Early  that  night,  asking  his 
plans.  Early  replied  that  he  proposed  to  attack  in  the  morning  and 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE. 

drive  the  enemy  from  Marye's  and  Lee's  hills,  extending  his  left 
so  as  to  connect  with  McLaws'  right,  and  asking  his  co-opera 
tion.  That  night  he  received  a  note  from  General  McLaws 
assenting  to  the  plan  and  containing  General  Lee's  approval  of 
it  too.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  Early  advanced  along 
the  Telegraph  road,  regaining  Marye's  and  the  adjacent  hills, 
but  he  could  not  hear  McLaws'  guns.  McLaws  says  in  his 
report  that  he  agreed  to  advance,  provided  Early  would  attack 
first,  and  did  advance  his  right  (Kershaw  and  Wofford  to  co-operate 
with  him);  but  finding  his  force  insufficient  for  a  front  attack,  he 
withdrew  to  his  lines  of  the  previous  evening.  In  the  meantime, 
Early  was  informed  that  Anderson  was  coming  and  not  to  attack 
until  he  was  in  position,  connecting  with  Early's  left,  when,  at  a 
signal  to  be  given  by  firing  three  guns  rapidly,  Sedgwick  was  to 
be  assaulted  by  Anderson,  McLaws  and  Early,  under  the  imme 
diate  command  of  General  Lee.  Anderson  reached  Salem  church 
about  noon,  but  the  attack  did  not  begin  until  6  P.  M. — owing, 
General  Lee  says,  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  troops  in  posi 
tion.  Stuart,  with  Jackson's  corps,  was  then  left  alone  in  Hooker's 
front.  At  6  P.  M.  the  signal  was  given.  Anderson  and  Early 
moved  forward  at  once  in  gallant  style,  driving  Sedgwick  across 
the  Plank  road  in  the  direction  of  the  Rappahannock.  The 
approaching  darkness,  we  are  told  by  General  Lee,  prevented 
McLaws  from  perceiving  the  success  of  the  attack,  until  the 
enemy  began  to  cross  the  river  below  Banks'  ford. 

When  the  morning  of  the  5th  dawned,  Sedgwick  "had  made 
good  his  escape"  and  removed  his  bridges.  Fredericksburg  was 
also  evacuated.  Early,  with  Barksdale,  was  left  to  hold  our  lines 
as  before,  while  Anderson  and  McLaws  returned  to  Chancellors- 
ville,  which  place  they  reached  on  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  in  a 
violent  thunder-storm.  At  daylight  on  the  6th  these  two  divi 
sions  were  ordered  to  assail  the  enemy's  works  in  conjunction 
with  Jackson's  corps;  but  during  the  storm  of  the  night  before, 
Hooker  retreated  over  the  river. 

The  Confederate  cavalry  operations,  from  smallness  of  num 
bers,  were  much  circumscribed.  Hampton's  brigade  was  south 
of  the  James  river  recruiting.  Jones'  brigade  was  in  the  Valley. 
Fitz.  Lee's  five  regiments  were  divided — two  operating  on  Gene 
ral  Lee's  right,  next  to  the  Rappahannock,  while  the  remaining 
three  marched  with  Jackson,  and  afterwards  were  on  the  extreme 
left,  near  Ely's  ford.  Two  regiments,  under  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  was 
all  the  cavalry  Stoneman  had  to  contend  against.  The  horse 
artillery  kept  pace  with  the  infantry.  Stuart's  report  says  they 
led  the  attack  on  the  3d. 

The  cavalry  corps  of  the  enemy,  according  to  the  returns  of 


32S  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

April  3Oth,  had  an  aggregate  present  for  duty  of  thirteen  thou 
sand  three  hundred  and  ninety-eight.  Hooker  says  (Conduct  of 
the  War,  volume  I,  page  136):  "My  cavalry  force  numbered 
upwards  of  thirteen  thousand  rrien  for  duty  at  the  time  the  cav 
alry  left  camp  at  Falmouth,  and  of  this  force  but  one  brigade 
was  retained  for  duty  with  the  infantry."  They  were  to  cross 
the  Rappahannock  on  the  29th,  the  same  day  as  the  infantry; 
one  column  was  to  move  round  through  Culpeper  and  Louisa, 
to  operate  on  the  Richmond,  Fredericksburg  and  Potomac  rail 
road  on  General  Lee's  line  of  communication.  This  column 
was  under  Stoneman  and  Buford.  Another  column  was  to 
threaten  Culpeper  and  Gordonsville,  then  to  follow  and  join 
Stoneman.  Stoneman  marched  to  Thompson's  cross-roads,  and 
calling  his  regimental  commanders  together,  tells  them  that  "  I 
have  dropped  in  this  region  like  a  shell,  and  that  I  intended  to 
burst  it,  expecting  each  piece  or  fragment  to  do  as  much  harm 
and  create  as  much  terror  as  would  result  from  sending  the  whole 
shell,  and  thus  magnify  our  small  force  into  overwhelming  num 
bers  " ;  and  he  further  says :  "  The  results  of  this  plan  satisfied 
my  most  sanguine  expections."  But  what  does  Hooker  say? 
"  On  the  4th  the  cavalry  column,  under  General  Stoneman,  re- 
Burned.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  it  accomplished  nothing. 
One  part  of  it,  under  Kilpatrick,  crossed  the  Acquia  and  Rich 
mond  railroad,  and  the  fact  that  on  the  5th  the  cars  carried  the 
Rebel  wounded  and  our  prisoners  over  the  road  to  Richmond, 
will  show  to  what  extent  the  enemy's  communications  had  been 
interrupted;  and  an  examination  of  the  instructions  General 
Stoneman  received,  in  connection  with  the  official  report  of  his 
operations,  fully  sustains  me  in  saying  that  no  officer  ever  made 
a  greater  mistake  in  construing  his  orders,  and  no  one  ever  accom 
plished  less  in  so  doing." 

Averell,  when  starting  with  his  column,  was  told  by  Hooker 
that  "in  the  vicinity  of  Culpeper,  you  will  be  likely  to  come 
against  Fitzhugh  Lee's  brigade  of  cavalry,  consisting  of  about 
•two  thousand  men,  which  it  is  expected  you  will  be  able  to 
disperse  and  destroy  without  delay  to  your  advance."  Averell 
marched  to  Culpeper  Courthouse  on  the  3Oth,  then  to  the  Rap- 
idan,  and  says,  "  from  prisoners  taken  and  from  contrabands,  it  was 
learned  that  at  least  two  brigades  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  were 
fleeing  before  us."  All  day  May  the  1st,  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  with 
his  two  regiments  and  one  piece  of  artillery,  gallantly  disputed 
his  advance,  and  in  compliance  with  the  orders  from  General 
Lee,  burnt  the  bridge  over  the  Rapidan  and  withdrew  towards 
Gordonsville.  He  reached  that  place  at  1 1  A.  M.  on  the  2d. 
At  6.30  A.  M.  on  the  same  day,  Averell,  who  never  advanced 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHUGH    LEE.  329 

'closer  than  three  miles  of  Orange  Courthouse,  countermarched 
and  went  back  to  the  army.  He  arrived  at  10.30  P.  M.  on  the 
night  of  the  2d,  on  the  north  side  of  Ely's  ford.  Averell's  losses, 
by  his  official  report,  were  two  officers  and  two  men  wounded 
and  one  man  killed.  He  numbered,  according  to  the  same  report, 
thirty-four  hundred  sabres  and  six  guns. 

W.  H.  F.  Lee  then  turned  his  attention  to  Stoneman,  who  was 
about  Trevylian's  depot  in  Louisa  county.  On  May  the  3d  and 
4th,  he  pursued  Wynclham's  force,  who  represented  the  fragment 
of  shell  which  was  flying  towards  Columbia,  and  says  he  heard 
by  telegrams  from  Richmond  that  the  enemy  were  everywhere. 
On  the  5th  and  6th  he  harassed  Stoneman's  rear  as  he  was  return 
ing  to  his  army;  on  May  the  8th  he  returned  to  Orange  Court 
house,  having  accomplished  as  much  as  could  possibly  be  ex 
pected  with  his  small  force.  I  leave  my  hearers  to  infer  what 
Stuart  would  have  done  in  the  enemy's  rear  with  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  cavalry,  only  opposed  by  two  regiments. 

And  so  ended  the  last  of  the  Federal  operations  at  Chancel- 
lorsvillc.  The  total  losses  on  the  Federal  side  was  seventeen 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  (Hooker,  Conduct  of 
War,  volume  I,  page  143).  Total  loss  on  Confederate  side  was 
ten  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-one.  Colonel  Baldwin, 
Chief  of  Ordnance,  reported,  as  captured  from  the  enemy,  thir 
teen  cannon,  fifteen  hundred  rounds  off artillery  ammunition,  large 
lot  of  harness,  wheels,  &c.,  and  nineteen  thousand  five  hundred 
muskets  and  rifles  and  three  hundred  thousand  rounds  of  infantry 
ammunition. 

In  an  address  of  this  sort  it  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the 
many  splendid  feats  of  valor  performed  by  the  troops.  I  must 
refer  all  to  the  official  reports.  They  will  show  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which,  under  God's  blessing,  were  surmounted  by 
the  valor  and  fortitude  of  our  army. 

The  prominent  points  of  this  contest  were:  Jackson's  fight  of 
the  2d,  Stuart's  of  the  3d,  and  the  operations  of  Early  and 
Barksdale,  of  Anderson,  Me  Laws  and  Wilcox.  In  his  official 
report,  General  Lee  says  that  "the  conduct  of  the  troops  cannot 
be  too  highly  praised.  Attacking  largely  superior  numbers  in 
strongly  entrenched  positions,  their  heroic  courage  overcame 
every  obstacle  of  nature  and  of  art,  and  achieved  a  triumph  most 
honorable  to  our  arms.  I  commend  to  the  Department  the  brave 
officers  and  men  mentioned  by  their  superiors  for  extraordinary 
daring  and  merit,  whose  names  I  am  unable  to  enumerate  here; 
among  them  will  be  found  some  who  have  passed  by  a  glorious 
death  beyond  the  reach  of  praise,  but  the  memory  of  whose 


33O  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 

virtues  and  devoted  patriotism  will  ever  be  cherished  by  their 
grateful  countrymen." 

On  6th  May,  General  Hooker  published  his  General  Order  No. 
49.  Listen  to  portions  of  it:  "The  Major- General  Commanding 
tenders  to  this  army  his  congratulations  on  its  achievements  of 
the  last  seven  days.  ...  In  withdrawing  from  the  south 
bank  of  the  Rappahannock  before  delivering  a  general  battle  to 
our  adversaries,  the  army  has  given  renewed  evidence  of  its  con 
fidence  in  itself  and  its  fidelity  to  the  principles  it  represents. 
Profoundly  loyal  and  conscious  of  its  strength,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  will  give  or  decline  battle  whenever  its 
interests  or  honor  may  demand.  .  .  .  .  The  events  of  the 
last  week  may  swell  with  pride  the  heart  of  every  officer  and 
soldier  of  this  army."  And  then  in  a  letter  to  Lincoln,  dated 
May  1 3th,  1863,  Hooker  says,  near  its  close,  "Is  it  asking  too 
much  to  inquire  your  opinion  of  my  Order  No.  49?  If  so,  do 
not  answer  me.  Jackson  is  dead  and  Lee  beats  McClellan  in  his 
untruthful  bulletins."  I  cannot  find  that  Lincoln  ever  answered 
this  question. 

Aye,  my  comrades,  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  is  over. 
"When  written  history  shall  truly  record  the  struggle  which 
ended  thus,  every  leaf  may  be  dripping  with  the  tears  of  grief 
and  woe,  but  not  a  page  will  be  stained  with  the  stigma  of  shame." 
It  will  show  nowhere  such  an  example  of  the  steady  handling  of 
a  small  force  against  a  great  one,  upon  plans  based  upon  a  pro 
found  and  accurate  judgment  of  the  facts.  Risks  were  assumed 
apparently  desperate,  with  cool  self-reliance  and  confidence  in 
the  army,  that  never  faltered  under  all  dangers  and  discourage 
ments  until  all  had  been  accomplished  which,  under  the  circum 
stances,  could  reasonably  be  expected.  The  laurel  at  Chancel 
lorsville  is  entwined  with  the  cypress.  Brigadier-General  Paxton 
fell  while  leading  his  brigade  with  conspicuous  courage  in  the 
assault  of  the  3d.  Generals  A.  P.  Hill,  Nicholls,  McGowan,  Heth, 
Hoke  and  Pender  were  wounded,  to  which  must  be  added  many 
gallant  officers  and  privates,  while  many  more  are  now  "but  a 
handful  of  dust  in  the  land  of  their  choice.  A  name  in  song  and 
story,  and  Fame  to  shout  with  her  trumpet  voice — Dead — dead 
on  the  field  of  glory." 

Chancellorsville  is  inseparably  connected  in  its  glory  and  gloom 
with  Stonewall  Jackson.  General  Lee  officially  writes :  "I  do 
not  propose  to  speak  here  of  the  character  of  this  illustrious 
man,  since  removed  from  the  scene  of  his  eminent  usefulness  by 
the  hand  of  an  inscrutable  but  all-wise  Providence.  I  neverthe 
less  desire  to  pay  the  tribute  of  my  admiration  to  the  matchless 
energy  and  skill  that  marked  this  last  act  of  his  life,  forming,  as 


ADDRESS    OF    GENERAL    FITZHL'GH    LEE.  33! 

it  did,  a  worthy  conclusion  of  that  long  series  of  splendid  achieve 
ments  which  won  for  him  the  lasting  gratitude  and  love  of  his 
country."  In  my  reading  of  history,  Jackson's  purely  military 
genius  resembled  more  closely  Cresar's  and  Napoleon's.  Like 
the  latter,  his  success  must  be  attributed  to  the  rapid  audacity  of 
his  movements,  and  to  his  masterly  control  of  the  confidence  and 
will  of  his  men.  He  had  the  daring,  temper  and  fiery  spirit  of 
Cajsar  in  battle.  Gesar  fell  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue,  which 
had  been  restored  by  his  magnanimity,  pierced  by  twenty-three 
wounds  at  the  hands  of  those  he  had  done  most  for.  Jackson 
fell  at  the  hands  of  those  who  would  have  cheerfully  joined  their 
comrades  upon  many  a  valley,  plain  and  mountain  slope  in  the 
dismal,  silent  bivouacs,  if  his  life  could  have  been  spared.  Like 
the  little  child  at  the  Chandler  house  where  Jackson  breathed 
his  last,  who  "wished  that  God  would  let  her  die  in  his  stead, 
for  then  only  her  mother  would  cry;  but  if  Jackson  died,  all  the 
people  of  the  country  would  cry."  Sixteen  years  have  passed. 
God  grant  that  the  little  speaker  then,  the  woman  now,  if  alive, 
who  wanted  to  die  for  Jackson,  is  beloved  and  happy!  The  char 
acter  of  Jackson,  while  being  likened  to  the  unswerving  justice 
of  an  Aristides,  had  yet  the  grand  virtues  of  a  Cato.  Like  the 
aurora  borealis  at  an  autumn's  evening  close,  it  will  brightly 
^hine  in  the  sky  of  the  future.  For  he  was  like  Knoch,  "a  type 
of  perfected  humanity — a  man  raised  to  heaven  by  pleasing  God, 
while  angels  fell  to  earth  by  transgression."  Immortal  Jackson! 
though  like  leaves  of  autumn  thy  dead  have  lain,  the— 

'*  Southern  heart  Is  their  funeral   urn. 
The  Southern  slogan  their  requiem  >tern." 

Sacred  Chancellorsville!     The  sun  had  gone  down  behind  the 
hills  and  the  wind  behind  the  clouds.      It  was — 

*;  A  ni^ht  of  storms  but  not  like  those 

That  sweep  the  mountain's  breast  ; 
Xot  like  the  hurricane  that  blows 

To  break  the  ocean's  rest. 
It  lightened,  'twas  the  sheeted  flash 

From  serried  ranks  that  lle\v  ; 
It  thundered,  'twas  the  cannon's  crash, 

That  tore  the  forest  through. 
Oh  !  night  of  horrors,  tliou  didst  see 

With  all  thy  starry  eyes, 
The  holocaust  of  victory, 

A  nation's  sacrifice . 


332  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

41  Lo,  prostrate  on  the  field  of  strife, 

The  noble  warrior  fell, 
Enriching  with  a  martyr's  life 

The  land  he  loved  so  well. 
But  round  the  martyred  hero's  form 

A  living  rampart  rose 
To  shield  him  from  the  hail  and  storm 

Of  his  retreating  foes. 
And  angels  from  the  King  of  kings, 

On  holiest  mission  sped 
To  weave  a  canopy  of  wings 

Around  his  sainted  head." 

Upon  the  occasion  of  Robert  E.  Lee's  confirmation  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  church,  Bishop  Johns  said  to  him:  "If  you  will  be 
as  faithful  a  soldier  of  the  cross  as  you  have  been  of  your 
country,  when  your  warfare  is  over  I  shall  covet  your  crown." 

Rest  on  Stonewall — faithful  to  cross  and  country,  your  warfare 
is  over,  your  crown  is  won. 

Let  us  weep  in  darkness,  but  not  weep  for  him — 

44  Not  for  him  who  ascended  Fame's  ladder  so  high, 
From  the  round  at  the  top,  he  stepped  off  to  the  sky." 

Deep  in  the  affections  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  Jack 
son  is  buried.  The  mountains  of  old  Rockbridge  are  the  senti 
nels  upon  the  watchtower. 

Then  striking  the  harp  of  his  country,  his  soldier  angels  being 
the  choir,  may  this  Society  join  me  as  I  sing — 

44  Go  sleep,  with  the  sunshine  of   fame  on  thy  slumbers, 
'Till  waked  by  some  hand  less  unworthy  than  mine." 

The  following  officers  were  unanimously  elected: 

President— General  W.  H.  F.  LEE. 

Vice-Presidents — Generals  Robert  Ransom,  Harry  Heth,  A.  L. 
Long,  William  Terry,  Captain  D.  B.  McCorkle,  General  Bradley 
T.  Johnson. 

Treasurer — Major  Robert  Stiles. 

Secretaries — Sergeants  George  L.  Christian  and  Leroy  S.  Ed 
wards. 

Executive  Committee — Colonel  Thomas  H.  Carter,  Majors  T. 
A.  Brander  and  Walter  K.  Martin,  Private  Carlton  McCarthy, 
General  T.  M.  Logan. 


BANQUET.  333 


THE  BANQUET 

was  spread  in  Levy's  hall  in  elegant  style.  After  the  delicacies 
of  the  season  had  been  heartily  enjoyed,  Judge  George  L.  Chris 
tian  announced  the  regular  toasts,  which  were  responded  to  as 
follows : 

1.  The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia — Colonel  C.  S.  Venable. 

2.  The  Infantry — Colonel  John  M.  Patton. 

3.  The  Artillery — D.  Gardner  Tyler. 

4.  The  Cavalry — James   N.   Dunlop,  of  the   Fourth  Virginia 
cavalry. 

5.  The  Women  of  the  South — Judge  Theo.  S.  Garnett. 

6.  The  Dead— Rev.  Dr.  J.  E.  Edwards. 

The  speeches  generally  were  good,  but  some  of  them  were 
rare  gems.  Then  followed  a  number  of  volunteer  toasts  and 
responses,  and  a  good  time  generally?  The  whole  occasion  was 
a  grand  success. 


ROSTER  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA. 


A  full  and  complete  roster  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
would  involve  an  amount  of  work  which  the  compiler  has  not 
had  time  to  bestow,  and  occupy  more  pages  than  the  design  of 
this  volume  would  allow.  Instead,  therefore,  of  attempting  at 
this  time  a  full  roster  from  the  beginning  to  the  dissolution  of 
our  grand  old  army,  I  shall  reserve  that  as  a  task  upon  which  I 
shall  patiently  work  until  it  is  brought  as  near  perfection  as  it  is 
now  possible  to  make  it,  and  shall  for  the  present  content  myself 
with  the  following  carefully  prepared  roster  of  the  army  at  several 
of  the  most  important  periods  of  its  history : 

SEVEN    DAYS'    BATTLES. 


R.    E.   LEE,    General    Commanding. 

June  26th  to  July  2d,  1862. 

2.— LONGSTKEET'S  DIVISION— General  JAMES  LONGSTREET. 


First  Brigade—  General  J.  L.  Kemper.  . 
17th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  M.  D.  Corse. 
24th  Lt.  Col.  Hairston. 

1st  "  Captain  Norton. 

11th  "  Captain  Otey. 

lo 


7th 


Colonel  W.  T.  Patton. 


Second  Brigade— General  R.  H.  AnddVsor.. 
Palmetto  sharpshooters,  Colonel  Jenkins. 
2d   South  Carolina  Rifles,  Colonel  Moore. 
5th  South  Carolina  regiment,  Colonel  Giles. 
6th  "  Col.  Bratton. 


Third  Brigade— General  George  E.  Pickett. 

8th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  Eppa  Hunt  on. 
18th  "  Col.  R.  E.  Withers. 

19th  "  Colonel  J.  B.  Strange. 

28th  "  Colonel  R.  C.  Allen. 

56th  "  Colonel  W.  D.  Stuart. 


Fourth  Brigade— General  C.  M.  Wilcox. 
10th  Alabama  regiment,  Col.  1. 1.  Woodward, 
llth  "  Lt.  Col.  S.  T.  Hale. 

8th  "  Lt.  Col.  Royston. 

9th  "  Major  Williams. 


Fifth  Brigade— General  R.  A.  Pryor. 

P.d   Virginia  regiment,  Col.  Joseph  Mayo,  Jr. 

2d  Florida  regiment,  Colonel  E.  A.  Perry. 
14th  Alabama  regiment,  Colonel  Bayne. 
14th  Louisiana  regiment,  Colonel  Z.  York. 
Louisiana  Zouave  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  Coppens. 


Brigade— General  W.  S.  Featherston. 
'2il  Mississippi  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  Taylor. 
12th  Mississippi  regiment,  Major  Lilly. 
19th  "  MajorMulllns. 


.— HILL'S  LIGHT  DIVISION— General  A.  P.  HILL. 


r— General  J.  R.  Anderson. 
35th  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  E.  L.  Thomas. 
14th  "  Lt.  Col.  Fnlsoin. 

3d  Louisiana  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Pendleton. 
49th  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  A.  J.  Lane. 
45th  "  Colonel  F.  Hardeman. 


Second  Brigade— General  Maxey  Gregg. 
14th  South  Carolina  reg't,  Col.  S.  McGowan. 

1st  South  Carolina  rifles,  Colonel  Marshall. 

1st  South  Carolina  reg't,  Col.D.  II.  Hiimiltou. 
12th  "  Col.  Dixon  Barnes. 

13th  "  Col.  O.  E.  Edwards. 


Third  Brigade  -General  C.  W.  Field. 
55th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  Francis  Mallorv. 
60th  "  Colonel  W.  E.  Starke. 

40th  Virginia  reg't,  Col.  J.  M.  Brockenborough. 
47th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  Robert  M.  Mayo. 
2d  Virginia  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  Johnston. 


Vourili  lirifjade— General  W.  D.  Pender. 
ir.th  N.  C.  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  John  S.  McKlroy. 
38th  "          Col.  William  J.  Hoke. 

::itli  Col.Ridiard  II.  liiddick. 

'22(1  Colonel  James  Connor. 

10th  "  Col.  J.  A.  J.  Bradford. 

'2d  Arkansas  battalion,  Major  Bronaugh. 


ROSTER. 
A.  P.  HILL'S  DIVISION-CONTINUED. 


335 


Fifth  Brigade— General  J.  J.  Archer.  Sixth  Brigade— General  L.  O'B.   Branch. 

19th  Georgia  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Johnston.  2Sth  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  J.  H.  Lane. 

1st  Tennesseeregiment.  Lt.  Col.  Shackleford.      7th  Lt.  Col.  R.  P.  Campbell. 

5th  Alabama  battalion.  Captain  VandergratT.  37th  Col.  Charles  C.  Lee. 

7th  Tennessee  regiment,  Colonel  Goodlier.  33d  ';  Lt.  Col.  R.  L.  Hoke. 

14th  "  Col.  W.  A.  Forbes.   ;  ISth  "  Col.  Robert  II.  Cowan. 


3.— IIILT/S  DIVISION— General  D.  II.  HILT,. 


F-irxt  Brigade—  Gener&\  R.  E.  Rodes.  > 
3d  Alabama  regiment.  Major  Sands.  j 

5th  •'  Colonel  C.  Pegnea.  , 

<;th  "  ColonelJ.  B.  Gordon. 

li'th  "  Colonel  S.  b.  Piokens. 

2(5tli  "  Colonel  K.  A.  O'Neal. 


Third  Bri'ind,'  — General  G.  B.  Anderson. 

2d   N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  C.  c.  Tew. 

4th  Colonel  Jong  A.  Young. 

14th  "  Lt.  Col.  Johnston. 

3uth  "  Col.  Francis  M.  Parker. 


Second  Brigade—  General  Samuel  Garland. 

5th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  1).  K.  McCrao. 
v_>Mi  "          Colonel  Wade. 

13th  "          Colonel  A.  M.  Scales. 

211111  "          Colonel  Alfred  Iverson. 

23d  "  Colonel  Daniel  Christie. 


Fourth  Brigade—  General  A.  II.  Colquitt. 
r.th  Georgia'  regiment.  Lt.  Col.  Newton. 


Colonel  D.  F.  Best. 
Colonel  L.  B.  Smith. 
C"ionei  li.  I).  Fry. 


-.'Till  •' 

13th  Alabama  reg't, 


Fifth  Brigade— Gener&l  R.  S.  Ripley. 

1st  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  siokes. 

3d  "  Colond  Gaston  Meares. 

44th  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  Smith. 
4sth  Colonel  (iilison. 


4.— AIAGRUDEirs  DIVISIOX— General  J.  15.  MAORUDER. 


Firxt  Brigade— General  Paul  J.  Scmmes. 
10th  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  dimming. 
32d   Virginia  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  WillK 

5th  Louisiana  regiment,  Colonel  Hunt. 
15th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  T.  P.  August. 
Kith  Louisiana  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Wagaman. 
5: id  Georgia  regiment. 

Third  Brigade— General  I!.  Griilith. 
13th  Mississippi  regiment,  Colonel  Barksdalc. 
17th  '«  Colonel  Holder. 

ISth  "  Colonel  Griilin. 

21st  ;'  Col.  Humi)hries. 


Second  Brigade— General  J.  15.  Kershaw. 
2d   South  Carolina  reg't,  Colonel  Kennedy. 
;:d  "  colonel  Nance. 

Mh  •'  Colonel  Ilenagan. 

7th  '•  Colonel  Aiken. 


Fourth  Brigade— General  Ilowell  Cobb. 
Kith  (-r.-orgia  regiment,  Col.  (J  >ode  P.nan. 
C'obb's  Georgia  legion,  Col.  T.  K.  K.  Cobb. 
24th  Georgia  regiment.  Col.  Hobt.  McMillen. 
'2d   Louisiana  regiment,  Colonel  Norwood. 
15th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  Daw. 


Fifth  Brif/adc—Genera.1  Robert  Toombs. 


15th 
17th 
20th 


Colonel  Mclutosh. 
Colonel  Benning. 
Colonel  Camming. 


fh  Georgia  regiment,  Major  E.  W.  lloyle. 


s;h  " 

llth  " 

'.tth  " 

8<1  " 

1st  Georgia  regulars 


Colonel  Lamnr. 
Lt.  Col.  Liiirman. 
Colonel  Turnlpseed. 

Lt.  Col.  White. 
Colonel  MagUI. 


o.— HUGER'S  DIVISIOX— General  BENJAMIN 


First  Brigade — General  William  Mahone. 
41st  Virginia  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Parham. 
49th  "  Colonel  Wm.  Smith. 

Cth  "  Col.  Geo.  T.  Rodgers. 

12th  "  Col.  D.  A.  Weis:gei. 

IGth  '•  Lt.  Col.  Ham. 


Sernnd  Brigade— General  L.  A.  Armistead. 

9th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  J.  C.  Owens. 
53d  •'  Col.  H.  B.  Tomlln. 

5th  Virginia  battalion.  Major  W.  li.  Foster. 
14th  Virginia  reg't,  Colonel  Hodg ••*. 
3>th  "         Colonel  Edmonds. 

57th  "         Lt.  Col.  J.  B.  Magruder. 


Third  Brigade— General  A.  R.  Wright.        i 
4th  Georgia  regiment.  Colonel  George  Doles.! 
1st  Louisiana  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Shivers. 
1st  Georgia  regiment,  Col.  Ch  H.  II.  Olmstead' 
2-2d  "  Colonel  R.  K.  Jones. 

3d  "  Major  J.  R.  Sturges.     ; 


336 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


6.— WHITING'S  DIVISION— General  W.  H.  C.  WHITING. 


first  Brigade— General  J.  B.  Hood. 

5th  Texas  regiment,  Colonel  J.  B.  Robertson. 

4th  "  Colonel  John  Marshall. 

1st  "  Colonel  A.  T.  Rainey. 

18th  "  Lt.  Col.  S.  L.  Ruff. 

Hampton's  legion,  Lt.  Col.  M.  W.  Gary. 


Second  Brigade — Colonel  E.  M.  Law. 
6th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  R.  F.  Webb. 
4th  Alabama  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  P.  Bowles, 
llth  Mississippi  regiment,  Col.  P.  F.  Liddell, 

**  r^lnntil    <t.iit.i 


2d 


Colonel  Stone. 


7.— JACKSON'S  DIVISION. 


First  Brigade— Gener&l  C.  S.  Winder. 

2d  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  J.  W.  Allen. 

5th  "  Col.  W.  H.  S.  Baylor. 

SSth  "  Colonel  Neff. 

27th  "  Colonel  Grigsby. 

4th  "  Colonel  Ronald. 

Irish  battalion,  Captain  Lee. 


Second  Brigade — Lieutenant-Colonel  R.  H. 

Cunningham. 

21st  Virginia  regiment,  Captain  Moseley. 
42d  "  Lt.  Col.  Martin. 

48th  "  Lt.  Col.  (Jarnett. 


Third  Brigade— Colonel  L.  W.  Fulkerson. 
10th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  E.  T.  H.  Warren. 
37th  "  Major  Williams. 

23d  "  Captain  A.  V.  Scott. 

1st  Maryland  regiment,  Col.  B.  T.  Johnson. 


Fourth  Brigade — General  A.  R.  Lawton. 
13th  Georgia  regiment.  Colonel  Douglas. 
26th  "  Col.  W.  H.  Atkinson. 

60th  "  Col.  Wm,  H.  Stiles. 

61st  "  Col.  John  H.  Lamar. 

SSth  "  Lt,  Col.  Pair. 

31st  "  Colonel  C.  A.  Evans. 


.—E  WELL'S  DIVISION— General  R.  S.  EWELL. 


First  Brigade — General  A.  Elzey. 
13th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  J.  A.  Walker. 
25th  "  Lt.  Col.  Higinbotham. 

31st  "  Col.  J.  S.  Hoffman. 

44th  "  Lt.  Col.  Norvell  Cobb. 

52d  "  Lt.  Col.  J.  H.  Skinner. 

SSth  "  Colonel  Board. 

12th  Georgia  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Willis. 


Second  Brigade — Colonel  J.  E.  Seymour. 
6th  Louisiana  regiment.  Qolonel  Seymour. 
7th  "  Lt.  Col.  D.  B.  Penn. 

8th  "  Col.  H.  B.  Kelley. 

9th  "  Col.  L.  A.  Stafford. 

13th  Special  battalion. 


Third  Brigade— General  Trimble. 
15th  Alabama  regiment,  Colonel  Canty. 
16th  Mississippi  regiment,  Colonel  C.  Posey. 
21st  Georgia  regiment,  Major  T.  Hooper. 
21st  N.  C.  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  W.  W.  Kirkland. 
1st  N.  C.  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  Williams. 


9.— HOLMES'  DIVISION— General  HOLMES. 


rirst  Brigade— General  J  G.  Walker. 

3d  Arkansas  regiment,  Col.  Van  II.  Manning. 
30th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  A.  T.  Harrison. 
27th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  John  R.  Cooke. 
46th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  E.  D.  Hall. 

2d  Georgia  battalion,  Major  Hardeman. 
48th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  R.  C.  Hill. 


Second  Brigade — General  R.  Ransom,  Jr. 
25th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  Rutledge. 
'24i  h  Colonel  Clarke. 

35th  "  Colonel  Ransom. 

49th  Colonel  S.  D.  Ramseur. 

26th  "          Colonel  Vance. 


Third  Brigade— Colonel  Junius  Daniel. 
45th  N.  C.  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  Morehead. 
43d  "  Colonel  Keenan. 

60th  "          Colonel  Craton. 


Fourth  Brigade— General  H.  A.  Wise. 
26th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  P.  R.  Page. 
46th  "  Col.  R.  T.  W.  Duke. 

34th  "  Colonel  J.  H.  Ware. 


JO.— CAVALRY  DIVISION— Brigadier-General  J.  E.  B.  STUART. 


1st  Virginia,  Colonel  Fitzhugh  Lee. 
3d          ""         Colonel  T.  F.  Goode. 
4th        "         Captain  Chamberlayne. 
5th         "         Colonel  T.  L.  Rosser. 
9th         "         Colonel  W.  H.  F.  Lee. 


10th  Virginia,  Colonel  J.  Lucius  Davis. 
Cobb  legion,  Colonel  T.  R.  R.  Cobb. 
Jeff.  Davis  legion,  Lt.  Col.  W.  F.  Martin. 
1st  North  Carolina,  Colonel  L.  S.  Baker. 


ROSTER. 


337 


11.— ARTILLERY  CORPS. 


RESERVE  ARTILLERY-  Brigadier-General  W.  S.  Pendleton. 

Richardson's  battalion— Maj.  Chas.  Richard-  1  Cutts'  battalion— Lieutenant-Colonel  Cutts. 

son.  1st  Virginia  regiment  of  artillery— Colonel  J. 

Jones'  battalion— Maj.  Hilary  P.  Jones.  ]         Thompson  Brown. 

ARTILLERY  ATTACHED  TO  THE  BRIGADES  OP  EACH  DIVISION. 


Longstreet's  division— Major  J.  Walton,  chief 

of  artillery. 
A.  P.  Hill's  division— Lt.  Col.  L.  M.  Coleman, 

acting  chief  of  artillery. 
D.  H.  Hill's  division— Major  Plerson,  chief  of 

artillery. 
Magruder's  division— Lt.  Col.  S.  D.  Lee,  chief 

of  artillery. 


Huger's  division. 

Whiting's  division. 

Jackson's  division— Col.  S.  Crutchfleld,  chief 

of  artillery. 
Ewell's  division — Maj.  Alfred  Courtney,  chief 

of  artillery. 
Holmes'  division — Col.  James  Deshler,  chief 

of  artillery. 


333 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


JUNE  ist,  1863. 
It.  E.  LEE,  General  Commanding. 

FIRST  CORPS — Licutenant-Gencral  JAMES  LOXGSTREET. 
McLAWS'  DIVISION— Major-General  L.  McLAWS. 


KerxJiat'''1*  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  B.  Kershaw. 
15th  S.  C.  regiment,  Col.  W.  D.  De  Saussmv. 
8th  "  Col.  J.  W.  MeimningL-r. 

2cl  "          Col.  John  D.  Kennedy. 

3d  "          Col.  James  D.  Nance. 

7th  "          Col.  D.  Wyatt  Aiken. 

3d  (James')  battalion  S.  C.  infantry,  Lt.  Col, 
R.  C.  Rice. 


fie  lining'*  brigade — Brig.  Gen.  H.  L.  Benning. 
50th  Georgia  regiment,  Col.  W.  R.  Manning. 
5lst  "  Col.  W.  Ml  Slaughter. 

5;U1  "  .  Col.  James  P.  Sims. 

10th  '•  Lt.  Col.  J.  B.  Weems. 


Barfadale's  brigade — Brigadier-General  Wm. 

Barksdale. 

13th  Mississippi  regiment,  Col.  J.  W.  Carter. 
17th  "  Col.  W.  D.  Holder. 

18th  "  Col.  T.  M.  Griffin. 

21st  Mississippi  reg't,  Col.  B.  G.  Humphreys. 


Wo/ord's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  W.  T.  Wofford. 
18th  Georgia  regiment,  Major  E.  Griffis. 
Phillip's  Georgia  legion,  Col.  W.  M.  Phillips. 
24th  Georgia  regiment,  Col.  Rob't  McMillan. 
16th  "  Col.  Goode  Bryan. 

Cobb's  Georgia  legion,  Lt.  Col.  L.  D.  Glewn. 


PICKETT'S  DIVISION— Major-General  GEORGE  E.  PICKETT. 


Garnctt'x  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  R.  B.  Garnett. 
8th  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  F,ppa  Hnnton. 


18th 
19th 
28th 
56th 


Colonel  R.  E.  Withers. 
Colonel  Henry  Gantt. 
Colonel  R.  C.  Allen. 
Colonel  W.  D.  Stuart. 


Armistead's  brigade— Brigadier-General 

L.  A.  Armistead. 

9th  Virginia  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  J.  S.  Gilliam. 
14th  "  Colonel  J.  G.  Hodges. 

3Sth  Col.  E.  C.  Edmonds. 

53(1  "  Col.  John  Grammer. 

57th  "  •     Col.  J.  B.  Magruder. 


Kemper's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  L.  Kemper. 

1st  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  L.  B.  Williams,  Jr. 

3d  "  Col.  Joseph  Mayo,  Jr. 

7th  "  Colonel  W.  T.  Patton. 

llth  "  Col.  David  Funstin. 

24th  "  Colonel  W.  R.  Terry. 


ToomW  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  R.  Toombs. 

2d   Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  E.  M.  Butt. 

15th  "  Col.  E.  M.  DuBose. 

17th  "  Col.  W.  C.  Hodges. 

20th  "  Cul.  J.  B.  Cumniings. 


Cnrxf'f<  brigade— 'Brig.  Gen.  M.  D.  Corse. 
15th  Virginia'regiment  Col.  T.  P.  August. 
17th  Col.  Morton  Marye. 

30th  "  Col.  A.  T.  Harrison. 

32d  "  Col.  E.  B.  Montague. 


HOOD'S  DIVISION"— Maj or-General  J.  B.  HOOD. 


Robertson's  brigade— Brigadier-General  J.  B. 

Robertson. 

1st  Texas  regiment,  Colonel  A.  T.  RaTney. 
4th  T  ColonH .1.  <'.<:.  Key. 

5th  "  Colonel  R.  M.  Powell. 

3d  Arkansas  reg't,  Col.  Van  H.  Manning. 


Anderson's  brigade— Brigadier-General 

G.  T.  Anderson. 

10th  Georgia  battalion,  Major  J.  E.  Rylander. 
7th  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  W.  M.  White. 
8th  "  Lt.  Col.  J.  R.  Towers. 

9th  "  Colonel  B.  F.  Beck. 

llth  "  Colonel  F.  H.  Little. 


Law's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  E.  M.  Law. 
4th  Alabama  regiment,  Col.  P.  A.  Bowles. 
44th  "  Col.  W.  H.  Perry. 

15th  "  Col.  James  Canty. 

47th  "  Col.  J.  W.  Jackson. 

48tb  "  Col.  J.  F.  Shepherd. 


Jenkins'  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  M.  Jenkins. 
'Jd  s.  C.  rifle's,  Colonel  Thomas  Thompson. 
1st  S.  C.  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  David  Livingston. 
5th  "         Colonel  A.  Coward. 

6th  "         Colonel  John  Bratton. 

Hampton's  legien,  Colonel  M.  W.  Gary. 


ROSTER. 


339 


SECOND  CORPS— Lieutenant-Gencral  R.  S.  EWELL. 
EARLY'S  DIVISION— Major-General  J.  A.  EARLY. 


Hays'  brigade  —  Brig.  Geu.  H.  T.  Hays. 
5th  Louisiana  regiment,  Col.  Henry  Forno. 
6th                "                 Col.  Wm.  Monaghan. 
7th                  "                   Col.  D.  B.  Penn. 
8th                 "                  Col.  Henry  B.  Kelley. 
9th                 "       ,           Col.  A.  L.  Stafford. 

Gordon's  briga 
18th  Georgia  r 

26th                     ' 
Hist                      « 
3Sth                     ' 
60th                      ' 

61st                    ' 

de—  Brig.  Gen.  J.  B.  Gordon, 
gimeiit,  Col.  J.  M.  Smith. 
Col.  E.  N.  Atkinson. 
Col.  C.  A.  Evans. 
Major  J.  I).  Mathews. 
Colonel  W.  H.  Stiles. 
Colonel  J.  II.  Lamar. 

Smith's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  William  Smith. 
13th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  J.  E.  B.  Terrill. 
31st  Col.  John  S.  Hoffman. 

49th  "  Colonel  Gibson. 

52d  "  Colonel  skinner. 

5Sth  "  Colonel  F.  II.  Board. 


Hokc's  brigade— Col.  J.  E.  A  very  commanding 
((-Jen.  H.  F.  Hoke  being  absent,  wounded). 
6th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  J.  E.  A  very. 

21st  "          Colonel  W.  W.  Kirkl and. 

54th  Col.  J.  C.  T.  McDowell. 

57th  "  Colonel  A.  C.  Godwin. 

1st  X.  C.  battalion,  "Major  R.  II.  Wharton. 


JOHNSON'S  DIVISIOX— Major-General  ED.  JOHNSON. 


Kteuart's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  Geo.  II.  Steuart. 
10th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  E.  T.  II.  Warren. 
23d  "  Col.  A.  (J.  Taliaferro. 

37th  C'ol.  T.  V.  Williams. 

1st  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  J.  A.  McDowell. 

3d  "  Lt.  Col.  Thurston. 


"  fitoncu-all  brigade  "—Brigadier-General 

James  A.  Walker. 

4th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  Chas.  A.  Konald. 
5th  "  Col.  J.  II.  S.  Funk. 

>7th  "  Col.  J.  K.  Edmondson 

«d   Virginia  reg't,  Col.  F.  \V.  M.  Holliday. 
2d  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  J.  (,».  A.  Nadens- 


John  M.  Jones'  brigade  —  Brigadier-General 
John  M.  Jones. 
21st  Virginia  regiment,  Captain  Moselv. 
42d                  "                Lt.  Col.  Withers. 
44th                 "                Captain  Buckner. 
4Sth                  "                 Colonel  T.  S.  Garnett. 
50th                  "                Colonel  Vaudeventer. 

Mdiollx'  brigade—  Col.  J.  .M.  Williams  com 
manding  (Gen.  F.  T.Nicholls  being  absent, 
wounded). 
1st  Louisiana  regiment,  C'ol.  W.  R.  Shivers. 
2d                  '•                   Col.  J.  M.  Williams, 
loth                  "                    Col.  E.  Waggamau. 
14th                   "                      Colonel  /.  York. 
15th                                         Col.  Ed.  Pcudleton. 

RODES'  DIVISION— Major-General  R.  E.  RODES. 


Daniel's  brigade — Brig.  Gen.  Junius  Daniel.    ! 
32d   N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  E.  C.  Brabble. 
43d  "  C'ol.  Thomas  H.  Keonan. 

45th  "  Lt.  Col.  Samuel  II.  Boyd. 

53d  "  Colonel  \V.  A.  Owens. 

2d  N.  C.  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  H.  S.  Andrews.     J 


ZW^.s'  brigade— Brig.  Gon.  George  Doles. 
4th  Georgia  regiment,  Lt.  C'ol.  I).  K.  E.  Winn. 
12th  "  Col.  Edward  Willis. 

21st  Col.  John  T.  Mercer. 

44th  Col.  S.  P.  Lumpkiu. 


Jverson's  brigade — Brig.  Gen.  Alfred  Iverson.  iRamsenr'*  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  S.  I).  Ramseur 


5th  N.  C.  regiment,  Captain  S.  B.  West. 
12th  "  Lt.  Col.  W.  S.  Davis. 

20th  "  Lt.  Col.  N.  Slough. 

23d  "  Colonel  D.  II.  Christie. 


•-M    N.  C.  regiment,  Major  E.  W.  Hurt. 

4th  Colonel  Bryan  Grimes. 

14th  •  "  Colonel  R.  T.  Bennett. 

30th  "  Colonel  F.  M.  Parker. 


Rodcs'  brigade — Colonel  E.  A.  O'Neal. 

3d   Alabama 'regiment,  Colonel  C.  A.  Battle. 

5th  "  Colonel  J.  M.  Hall. 

Gth  "  Col.  J.  N.  Lightfoot. 

12th  "  Colonel  S.  B.  Pickens. 

2Gth  Alabama  reg'f,  Lt.  Col.  J.  C.  Goodgame. 


340 


MEMORIAL  VOLUME. 


THIRD  CORPS— Lieutenant-General  A.  P.  HILL. 
ANDERSON'S  DIVISION— Major-General  R.  H.  ANDERSON. 


rig.  Gen.  C.  M.  Wilcox. 
8th  Alabama  regiment,  Col.  T.  L.  Royster. 
9th  Colonel  S.  Henry. 


10th 
llth 
14th 


Colonel  W.  H.  Forney  16th 
Col.  J.  C.  C.  Saundersi  41st 
Col.  L.  P.  Pinkhard.  j  61st 


M<(}t<>iH''x  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  Wm.  Mahone. 
6th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  G.  T.  Rogers. 
12th  "  Col.  D.  A.  W<-isig«r. 


Lt.  Col.  Jos.  H.  Ham. 
Col.  W.  A.  Parham. 
Col.  V.  D.  Groner. 


Posey's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  Canot  Posey. 
46th  Mississippi  regiment,  Col.  Joseph  Jayne. 
16th  "  Col.  Sam  1  E.  Baker 

19th  "  Col.  John  Mullius. 

12th  "  Col.  W.  H.  Taylor. 


Wright's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  A.  R.  Wright. 

2d    Georgia  battalion,  Major  G.  W.  Ross. 

3d  Georgia  regiment,  Colonel  E.  J.  Walker. 
22d  "  Colonel  R.  H.  Jones. 

48th  "  Col.  William  Gibson. 


Perry's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  E.  A.  Perry. 
2d   Florida  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  S.  G.  Pyles. 
5th  "  Colonel  J.  C.  Hately. 

8th  Colonel  David  Long. 


HETH'S  DIVISION— Major-General  H.  HETH. 


Pettigrew's  brigade—  Brig.  Gen.  Pettigrew. 
42d   N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  George  C.  Gibbs. 
•  llth                             Col.  Collett  Leventhorpe. 
26th                             Colonel  John  R.  Lane. 
44th                  '          Col.  Thomas  Singletary. 
47th                              Col.  George  H.  Faribault. 
52d                   «          Colonel  J.  K.  Marshall. 
17th                 "          Col.  William  F.  Martin. 

Field's  brigade—  Brigadier-General  Field. 
55th"  Virginia  regiment,  Colonel  Christian. 
47th                  "                Col.  Robert  M.  Mayo. 
2d  Virginia  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  Johnson. 
40th  Virginia  regiment,  Col.  J.  M.  Brocken- 
borough. 

Davis'  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  R.  Davis. 

2d  Mississippi  regiment,  Col.  J.  M.  Stone, 
llth  "  Col.  F.  M.  Green. 

26th  "  Col.  A.  E.  Reynolds. 

42d  "  Col.  Hugh  R.  Miller. 

55th  N.  C.  regiment,  Col.  John  K.  Connally. 

1st  Confederate  battalion. 


Archer's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  J.  Archer. 

1st  Tennessee  regiment,  Lt.  Col.  George. 

7th  "  Lt.  Col.  Fite. 

14th  "  Col.  Wm.  McComb 

13th  Alabama  regiment,  Col.  B.  D.  Fry. 

5th  Alabama  battalion,  Captain  Stewart. 


Cooke's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  R.  Cooke. 
15th  N.  C.  regiment,  Colonel  William  McRae. 
27th  "          Col.  John  A.  Gilmer,  Jr. 

46th  "          Colonel  E.  D.  Hall. 

48th  "          Colonel  Robert  C.  Hall. 


FENDER'S  DIVISION— Major-General  W.  D.  FENDER. 


McGoican's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  S.  McGowan. 

1st  S.  C.  regiment,  Col.  D.  II.  Hamilton. 
12th  "         Colonel  C.  Jones. 

13th  "         Colonel  O.  E.  Edwards. 

14th  "         Colonel  Abner  Perrin. 

1st  South  Carolina  rifles,  Col.  F.  E.  Harrison. 


Lane's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  J.  H.  Lane. 
7th  N.  C.  regiment,  Col.  E.  G.  Haywood. 
18th  "  Colonel  T.  J.  Perdie. 

28th  "          Colonel  S.  D.  Lowe. 

33d  "  Colonel  C.  M.  Avery. 

37th  "          Colonel  W.  M.  Barbour. 


Thomas'  brigade— 'Brig.  Gen.  E.  L.  Thomas. 
14th  Georgia  regiment,  Col.  R.  W.  Folsom. 
35th  "  Captain  John  Duke. 

45th  "  Lieut,  W.  L.  Grice. 

49th  "  Major  S.  T.  Player. 


Scales'  brigade—  Brig.  Gen.  A.  M.  Scales. 
13th  N.  C.  regiment,  Col.  Joseph  II.  Hyman. 
16th  "  Col.  J.  S.  McElroy. 

22d  "          Colonel  James  Conner. 

34th  "  Col.  W.  L.  J.  Lawrence. 

38th  "          Colonel  W.  J.  Hoke. 


ROSTER. 


341 


ARTILLERY  CORPS— Brigadier-General  W.  N.  PEXDLETON. 
FIRST  CORE'S— Colonel  J.  B.  WALTON. 


BATTALIONS. 
Col  II  C  Cahell                       ) 

BATTERIES. 
McCarty 

BATTALIONS. 
Col  K  P   Alexander              ) 

BATTERIES. 

Manly 

Major  Hu^er                   .        f 

Rhett 

9  rifles  ;  5  Naps.;  2  Hows. 
Major  Dearin<r                           ) 

Carlton. 
Fraser. 

Mac  on 

11  rilles;  6  Naps.;  4  Hows. 

Moody. 
Parker. 
Taylor.    ' 

MajorReed    ....( 

Blount. 

Major  Eshlenian  . 

Squiers. 

6  rifles  ;  12  Napoleons. 

Stribling. 
Caskie. 

Bacliman 

8  Napoleons  ;  2  Hows. 

Miller. 
Richardson. 
Norcora. 

5  rifles;  11  Naps.;  2  Hows. 

Rielly. 
Latham. 
Gordon. 

SECOND  CORPS— Colonel  S.  CRUTCHFIELD. 


BATTALIONS. 

Lt.  Col.  Thos.  II.  Carter  ) 
Maj.  Carter  M.  Braxton  j" 

7  rifles;  G  Naps.;  2  Hows. 

Lt.  Col.  II.  P.  Jones  ) 
Major  Brockenborougb  \ 

4  rifles  ;  S  Naps.;  2  Hows. 
Lt.  Col.  S.  Andrews  ) 

BATTERIES. 

Pajre. 
Fry. 
Carter. 
Reese. 

Carrlngton. 
Garbrr. 
Thompson. 
Tanner. 

Brown. 
Dement. 
Carpenter. 
Rains. 

BATTALIONS. 

Lt.  Col.  Nelson  ) 
Major  Pa(re                  ....        / 

BATTERIES. 

Kirkpatrick. 
Massie. 
MilleUge. 

Dance. 
Watson, 
smith. 
Huff. 
Graham. 

G  rifles  ;  8  Naps.;  4  Hows. 

Colonel  J.  T.  Brown  ) 
Major  Hardaway  )' 

11  rifles  ;  4  Naps.;  4  Hows. 

Major  Latiiuer                           j" 

10  rifles  ;  6  Napoleons. 

THIRD  CORPS—  Colonel  R.  LINDSAY  WALKER. 

BATTALIONS. 

Major  D.  G.  Mclntosh  ) 
Major  \V.  F   Poa°"ue         .       .  / 

BATTERIES. 

Hurt. 
Rice. 
Luck. 
Johnson. 

Lewis. 
Maurin. 
Moore. 
Grandy. 

Wyatt. 
Wo..  if  oik. 
Brookes. 

BATTALIONS. 
Major  Willie  J.  Pegram  

8  rifles  ;  9  Naps.;  2  Hows. 
Lt  Col   Cutts                            ) 

BATTKRIES. 

Branson. 
Davidson. 
Crenshaw. 
MoGraw. 
Marye. 

Wingfleld. 
Ross. 
Patterson. 

10  rifles  ;  6  Napoleons. 
Lt  Col    Garnett                        ) 

Major  Richardson                  .  j" 

11  rifles  ;  4  Naps.;  2  Hows. 
Maj  or  Cutshaw  

Major  Lane  / 

10  rifles  ;  3  Naps.;  4  Hows. 

2  rifles  ;  5  Naps.;  7  Hows. 

342 


MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 


Summary  of  Artillery  (exclusive  of  Horse  Artillery). 


. 

X 

S 

£3 

. 

0 

2 

0 

o> 

S 

og 

o 

a 

N 
It 

p 

« 

o 

S 

03 

fe 

W 

1 

Artillery  of  First  corps  

5 

21 

31 

42 

10 

83 

Artillery  of  Second  corps                              . 

5 

20 

38 

32 

12 

82 

Artillery  of  Third  corps              

5 

19 

41 

27 

15 

83 

Total  

15 

60 

110 

101 

37 

248 

CAVALRY  DIVISION— Major-General  J.  E.  B.  STUART. 


Fitz.  Lee's  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  Fitz.  Lee. 
1st  Virginia,  Colonel  James  H.  Drake. 
2d          "         Colonel  T.  T.  Munford. 
3d          "        Colonel  Owen. 
4th        "        Colonel  W.  C.  Wickham. 
5th         "         Colonel  T.  L.  Rosser. 


W.  H.  F.  Lea's  brigade— Brigadier-General 
W.  H.  F.  Lee. 

t»th  Virginia,  Colonel  R.  L.  T.  Beale. 
13th        "        Colonel  J.  R.  Chambliss. 
loth         "         Colonel  J.  Lucius  Davis. 

2cl  North  Carolina,  Colonel  Sol.  Williams. 


Robertson's 


riflcifle— Brigadicr- 
B.  Robertson. 


General  J. 


€3d  North  Carolina,  Colonel  Evans. 
59th  "  Lt.  Col.  Cantwell. 

14th  Virginia,  Colonel  James  Cochrau. 
15th        "        Major  Collins. 


Jones'  brigade— Brig.  Gen.  W.  E.  Jones, 
llth  Virginia,  Colonel  L.  L.  Lomax. 
7th        •'        Lt.  Col.  Thomas  Marshall. 
12th        "        Colonel  A.  W.  Harman. 
White's  battalion,  Lt.  Col.  E.  V.  White. 
Brown's  battalion,  Major  Brown. 
6th  Virginia,  Major  C.  E.  Flournoy. 


Hampton's  brigade— Brigadier-General  Wade 

Hampton. 

5th  North  Carolina,  Colonel  James  B.  Gordon. 
1st  "  Colonel  L.  S.  Baker. 

Cobb  legion,  Colonel  P.  B.  M.  Young. 
Phillips  legion,  Lt.  Col.  J.  C.  Phillips. 
2d  South  Carolina,  Colonel  M.  C.  Butler. 
Jeff  Davis  legion,  Lt.  Col.  J.  F.  Warring, 
nt  South  Carolina,  Colonel  John  S.  Black. 


IIOKSE  ARTILLERY— Major  R.  F.  BECKHAM. 


Hart's  battery. 
Chew's  battery. 
McGregor's  battery. 


Moorman's  battery. 
Breathed's  battery. 


RELATIVE  NUMBERS 

OF  THE 

ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA  AND  THE  ARMY 
OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

AT  THEIR   PRINCIPAL  BATTLES. 


The  following  figures  are  very  carefully  compiled  from  "field 
returns,"  official  reports,  etc.,  and  are  believed  to  be  as  nearly 
accurate  as  it  is  now  possible  to  make  them. 

General  Lee  said,  in  a  letter  to  General  Early 'written  after  the 
war:  "  It  will  be  difficult  to  get  the  world  to  understand  the  odds 
against  which  we  fought,"  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  Northern 
writers  have  either  ignored  or  attempted  to  explain  away  these 
unpalatable  figures.  I>ut  the  stubborn  facts  remain  that  the 
Federal  Government  had  a  white  population  of  more  than 
20,000,000  from  which  to  draw  its  soldiers;  that  the  whole  world 
was  its  recruiting  ground,  and  that  it  drew  very  largely  on  the 
negro  population  of  the  South;  that  the  Confederacy  had  only  a 
nominal  population  of  7,000,000  of  whites,  while  the  actual  white 
population  upon  which  it  depended  to  recruit  its  armies  was 
under  5,000,000;  and  that  from  the  beginning  we  fought  against 
fearful  odds,  which  gradually  increased  until  the  close. 

I  have  space  for  only  the  aggregates  of  the  numbers  of  the: 
opposing  armies,  but  hold  myself  prepared  to  give  the  details  by 
which  I  arrive  at  my  results  and  to  verify  and  prove  the  accuracy 
of  the  figures  given. 

SEVEN"  DAYS'  BATTLES. 
General  Lee  had  effectives  present- 
Infantry 75,054 

Cavalry 2,500 

Artillery 2,500 

Total 80,054 

General  McClellan  had  present  at  the  beginning  of  these  battles 
a  total  effective  force  of  all  arms  of  at  least  105,000  men. 


344  MEMORIAL    VOLUME. 


SECOND  MANAiSSAS,  AUGUST  27-30,  18G2. 

ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA. 

Jackson's  three  divisions , 17,309 

Longstreet's  three  divisions 16,051 

Anderson's  division 6,111 

Drayton's  and  Evans'  brigades 4,600 


Total  infantry 44,077 

Cavalry 2,500 

Artillery 2,500 


Total  of  all  arms 49,077 

GENERAL    POPE'S    COMMAND. 

Colonel  W.  H.  Taylor  (pp.  62-65,  "Four  Years  With  Lee") 
has  shown  conclusively  from  the  official  figures  that  General 
Pope  had  "near  fifty  thousand  men"  before  receiving  any  rein 
forcements  from  General  McClellan,  and  that  from  first  to  last 
there  were  in  front  of  Washington,  to  resist  General  Lee's  ad 
vance,  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men. 

"General  Pope  puts  his  strength  on  the  1st  of  September,  at 
Centreville,  after  the  fighting  was  over,  at  sixty  thousand  men. 
His  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were  very  heavy,  but  his  miss 
ing  must  have  been  enormous  to  account  for  this  difference." 

SHARPSBURG,  OR  "ANTIETAM." 

General  Lee  told  the  writer  not  long  before  his  death  that  he 
fought  this  battle  "with  less  than  forty  thousand  men." 

The  official  reports,  as  cited  by  Colonel  Taylor,  show  his 
strength  to  have  been  as  follows: 

Longstreet's  command 6,262 

Jackson's  command 5,000 

D.  H.  Hill's  division 3,000 

R.  H.  Anderson's  division.. 3,500 

A.  P.  Hill's  division 3,400 

McLaws'  division 2,893 

J.  G.  Walker's  division 3,200 


Total  effective  infantry 27,255 

Cavalry  and  artillery 8,000 

Total  of  all  arms 35,255 

General  Lee  had  with  him  when  the  battle  began  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  1 6th  of  September,  1862,  less  than  eighteen  thousand 
men;  and  on  the  left  the  tnree  corps  of  Hooker,  Mansfield  and 


RELATIVE     NUMBERS. 


345 


Sumncr  (making  an  aggregate  of  40,000  men,  not  counting  two 
divisions  of  Franklin's  corps  sent  to  the  rescue  late  in  the  day) 
were  completely  shattered  as  they  beat  in  vain  against  Jackson, 
who,  with  a  force  of  less  than  fourteen  thousand  in  all,  "stood 
like  a  stone  wall"  against  every  assault. 

M 'CLELLAN'S  STRENGTH . 

According  to  his  own  report,  General  McClellan  had  in  action 
on  the  same  field  eighty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 

of  all  amis. 

BATTLE  OF  FREDERICKSBURG,  DECEMBER  13,  1802. 

The  "field  returns"  show  that  General  Lee  had,  on  the  loth 
of  December,  present  for  duty,  of  all  arms,  78,228,  and  on  the 
2Oth  of  December,  75,524.  But  less  than  twenty  thousand  of 
these  were  actually  engaged;  this  being  unquestionably  the 
easiest  victory  which  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  ever  won. 

BURNSIDE'S  STRENGTH. 

General  Burnside  states  (Report  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War, 
Part  I,  page  656)  that  he  had  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  and 
in  action  one  hundred  thousand  men;  but  this  does  not  include 
his  reserves  or  the  men  who  manned  his  powerful  artillery  on 
Stafford  heights  north  of  the  river,  which  swelled  his  force  to  at 
least  1 13,000. 

CHANCELLORSYILLE  AND  FREDERICKSBURG, 

MAY   1-G,  1SG3. 

When  these  battles  opened  (and  he  received  no  reinforcements 
until  they  were  over)  General  Lee's  strength  of  effectives  was, 
according  to  the  field  returns,  as  follows : 

Anderson's  and  McLaws'  divisions 15,040 

Jackson's  command 83,333 

Cavalry 6.509 

Reserve  artillery  (parked  in  rear) 1,021 

Total  of  all  arms 57,112 

But  there  should  be  deducted  from  this  number  Hampton's 
and  Jones'  brigades  of  cavalry,  aggregating  3,809  (which  were 
borne  on  the  "field  return,"  although  really  absent  and  not  partic- 
23 


346  MEMORIAL   VOLUME. 

ipating  in  any  of  these  operations,  because  they  belonged  to  the 
cavalry  division),  and  this  would  give  General  Lee's  actual  force 
at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  as  53,303. 

HOOKER'S  STRENGTH.  . 

The  compiler  has  before  him,  as  he  writes,  the  "field  return" 
of  General  Hooker's  army  for  April  3Oth,  1863,  and  the  aggre 
gate  " present  for  duty"  is  130,260  enlisted  men,  and  138,378 
officers  and  men,  with  a  grand  aggregate  of  157,990  "present" 
But  the  " present  for  duty  and  equipped"  (which  is  explained  to 
mean  "  only  those  who  are  actually  available  for  the  line  of  battle 
at  the  date  of  the  report")  is  given  as  133,708. 

BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG. 

General  Early  and  Colonel  W.  H.  Taylor  have  shown  con 
clusively  by  citation  of  official  figures  in  discussions  in  the 
Southern  Historical  Society  Papers  that  General  Lee  had  at 
Gettysburg — 

Infantry 48,900 

Cavalry 6,000 

Artillery 4,000 

Total  of  all  arms 59,900 

MEADE'S  STRENGTH. 

The  "consolidated  morning  report"  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  shows  beyond  all  dispute  that,  after  deducting  all  non- 
combatants  of  every  description,  General  Meade  had  "present 
for  duty  equipped  "  (actual fighting  mat)  at  Gettysburg  at  least — 

Infantry 82.208 

Artillery.... 7,192 

Cavalry 12,000 

Total 101,400 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1864. 

The  returns  show  that  when  Lee  moved  to  attack  Grant  in  the 
Wilderness,  he  had  less  than  64,000  men  of  all  arms,  while 
General  Grant  had  with  him  141,160  men  of  all  arms. 

General  Lee  received  a  total  of  14,400  reinforcements  from  the 
Wilderness  to  Cold  Harbor,  making  the  aggregate  force  which 
he  led  78,400;  while  General  Grant  received  reinforcements 
which  swelled  his  aggregate  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James  to 
192,160  men. 


RELATIVE     NUMBERS.  347 


1865. 

Just  before  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg,  General  Lee  had 
(according  to  his  own  statement)  but  33,000  muskets  with  which 
to  defend  a  line  over  thirty  miles  in  length.  The  losses  at  Five 
Forks  and  in  the  trenches  were  heavy,  so  that  when  he  withdrew 
his  army  from  the  lines  on  the  night  of  the  2cl  of  April,  he  had 
not  over  twenty  thousand  muskets  available. 

lie  surrendered  at  Appomattox  Courthouse  to  the  mighty 
hosts  by  which  he  was  surrounded  7,800  men  with  muskets  in 
their  hands. 

The  figures  given  above  make  the  most  eloquent  eulogy  that 
can  be  pronounced  on  our  heroic  army  and  its  matchless  leader. 


THE  END. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

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DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAR    51959 


SENT  ON  ILL 


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